Sonic the Hedgehog: GENESIS
by Wildcat Jason
Summary: Sonic & Evangelion crossover. Eggman and Sonic wind up in the Eva universe thanks to his new invention, and that's when all heck breaks loose. Can Sonic stop Eggman from ruining the Eva timeline while avoiding being destroyed by NERV? Updated 1 29 09
1. Prologue: Edict

Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis

Prologue: Edict

A pair of white-gloved hands twisted and capped the last pair of wires in the metal cube, before attaching the cover panel. A hand left for a moment to retrieve an electric screwdriver and a couple screws. With a few quick movements and four loud whirs, the panel was attached firmly, the odd grinning, mustachioed insignia on the front seemed to be happy with its new home.

The figure the hands belonged to lifted their goggles back on their forehead before reattaching their thick, little glasses onto their beady little crimson eyes. Their… well, his long, brown handlebar mustache bobbed proudly as he grinned, looking at his new invention.

"Hohoho!" he chuckled "It is complete! The Egg Dimension Invader is finally complete! If I can't establish my empire on this world, I'll just have to establish it on another one, without any meddling hedge--"

And that's when the alarm went off.

"Arrgh, of all the bad timing…. All security screens, on!"

A whole bunch of windows popped open on several computer screens, showing different areas of his base of operations. In some of them, most of everything was trashed. His eyes continued to roam from one window to the next, he had memorized where each camera was located, and suddenly he saw what he was looking for, as a small figure flew through the corridor it was watching, trashing several security drones, before stopping right before the camera. The figure was an odd one, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog wearing white gloves and socks and red and white fancy sneakers. He put his hands on his hips for a moment before sticking out his tongue, and then giving a cocky grin before smashing the camera.

"Arrgh, Sonic's here already…. Luckily, I had prepared in advance just in case he arrived," he said with a grin, pressing a button on the control panel of the screens "Have fun with the Egg Splicer, hedgehog."

With that, he shut off the security monitors and turned back to the Egg Dimension Invader.

"Unfortunately, I know it'll probably only hold him for a few minutes, and then he'll be here in just a few more. Egg Dimension Invader! I command you to take me to a universe where I can get the materials to make the ultimate weapon for all of my needs…"

With that, it switched on.

"2,838,383 results found."

"Aaargh! Okay, a universe where I can make a living weapon for all of my needs within those results…"

"3,228 results found."

"Stupid piece of junk…. Okay, where creatures like Sonic doesn't exist or exists, but are labelled threats by the people there, within those results!"

"37 results found."

There was suddenly a rapid beeping from the security panels again.

"He already destroyed the Egg Splicer… Damn it! Open a portal to one of those dimensions at random! I don't care which, as long as it suits my needs!"

"That could be dangerous, Dr. Eggman."

"I don't care! Open the portal, now!" Dr. Eggman yelled, adding a kick to the machine for emphasis.

"Done," the machine said, as a portal suddenly opened, large enough for Eggman and his hovercraft to fit through. He quickly jumped in said hovercraft and activated it "All necessary information about this universe that has to deal with your goal has been uploaded to your hovercraft's computers. Good luck, Doctor."

"Grr, I don't have enough time to start your shut off sequence… when Sonic enters the portal, make sure he's sent somewhere far enough away from me where I can formulate a plan before he reaches me. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Doctor."

With that, his hovercraft vanished into the portal, just as Sonic burst through the door to the room.

"Eggman!" he cried out, but too late "What is this thing, a teleporter?"

"I am the Egg Dimension Invader. I create gates to other universes and worlds."

"What! That Eggman, what is he up to now? Send me to where he went."

"Nothing has changed. You will enter the same place he will. Unfortunately, it'll be some time after he entered, and you might end up in a different place in this same world. It is what he commanded."

Sonic smirked.

"No matter where or when I get there, as long as I get Eggman, it won't matter."

"I will be waiting for your returns… if either of you make it back, anyway."

Sonic didn't say another world, and leapt into the portal.

The EDI closed the portal and went into secure mode. Only by Eggman's command would the portal open again and transport him, and maybe Sonic back with him. On the machine's status screen, read:

"Destination: Evangelion Universe"

To Be Continued

Note from the author: "A Sonic/Evangelion crossover! Are you insane!" You're probably saying with a confused/irritated look on your face. And you know, you're probably right. But I'm gonna do it anyway. You don't have to like it, or read it. But if you choose to stick around, out of curiosity, or out of spite, then good for you. You might just like it. I will try my best to make sure that this is actually good. I'll find a way to pull this concept off… I hope.


	2. New World

Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis

Chapter One: New World

Sonic exited the portal, only to fall and land with a loud thud on what felt like a giant block of ice.

"Ouch!" he cried "Portals… always random… always seem to throw you out in an awkward way…"

He stood up and began rubbing his aching back, before glancing at his surroundings. He was standing on a pillar of ice in the middle of some giant red-orange body of water, where hundreds more of these frozen spires stood.

"THIS is the place Eggman picked!" he grumbled "Not worth the effort if you ask me… Looks like this world isn't populated…"

He stood there for a few minutes, looking out at this eerie sight. Wondering just why Eggman chose this backwater place to pull off his next scheme… But then he remembered what the EDI said… It wouldn't put him on the same place in the world as Eggman, maybe not even the same time. Had Eggman screwed this world up already, so fast? No, he thought. This was too large scale to be his doing, and it also seemed too natural.

"Some sort of disaster must've hit this place… it used to be an arctic region, telling by the environment, but the temperature…. Seems off. I don't feel weird or anything so it couldn't have been a nuclear war or something… But still there's no one… hmm?"

Sonic noticed something off in the distance… what looked like a ship was going past, a military ship by the looks of it. So there were people around after all. He took a stance for a running start and blew forward, and began to run across the water and up onto a closer pillar. There was something sickening about the water, though… a strange smell. Once again he took off, getting even closer. Finally, after several sprints, he was close enough to take a leap onto the ship's deck. But he didn't know how the people of this world would react to him, so he'd have to get on without being noticed. So he waited until the ship passed, the back deck in front of him.

And so he leapt., and made a somewhat awkward landing, rolling across the deck and crashed into a wall.

"Owww… need to work on my landings…"

He quickly got up, and then he heard voices speaking in Japanese. He quickly hid in a group of barrels and waited as a few men came out and began to look around.

"I could swear I heard something." one said.

"We probably just hit an iceberg or something." said another.

"I could swear it sounded like something landing on the deck…"

"Well, I don't see anything."

"Let's just get back to work. The ship's on course to Tokyo 3..." said a third, this one had an English accent to his speaking "There's nothing here worth looking for."

"I hope you're right," the first guy said "Because if it was one of… THEM… and we brought it there, we'd be in big trouble."

"You worry too much."

And with that the group of men left.

"One of what?" Sonic thought to himself as the ship continued its course.

For several days, Sonic hid around the ship, occasionally sneaking into the kitchen to grab some food and then back out to his hiding place. He soon grew tired of it, and was pretty sure the people on the boat were figuring out something was up. So, one night he grabbed as much food as he could and accessed the cargo hold through the air conditioning vents.

Enormous boxes littered the place, they seemed to hold very gigantic and heavy objects. Marked on the boxes were either the word "supplies" or "weapons", sometimes both. He managed to find a few smaller boxes, though, containing freeze-dried food. At least he wouldn't starve. There didn't seem to be any competition, no rats or anything skittering about.

He didn't know how long he was in the hold, but eventually the ship had stopped. Suddenly, the hold was opened, and a crane began to lift out one of the huge boxes. Sonic quickly scrambled on top of it before it was out of reach. Up it went until he could see the outside world. It was much different than the place he had come to, it was quite warm and he could see a city off in the distance. He also saw many more ships docked about the area, he was probably in a harbor.

Now things actually looked normal for once. Sonic surveyed the area from his perch on the box, and noticed one of the ships, it looked different. The design, the build, and the symbol on its flag… No doubt about it, it had to be Eggman's.

But he was suddenly distracted by yelling from below. He looked down and noticed there was a gathering of men in military garb, and another person was pointing in his direction…

"Uh oh…" Sonic said to himself before leaping off the box, bounding between ships and cranes and the like and eventually to the ground, just narrowly avoiding multiple bursts of gunfire.

He turned to face the men, and they looked at him.

"Er, hi?"

"Wha-what is that thing!" the non-soldier gasped "Wait, did it just--"

"It's got to be an Angel!" yelled one of the soldiers "No creature exists like it… It must be eliminated!"

"I'm Sonic. And I'm no thing, nor am I an…"

"Silence, Angel!" yelled an officer as he opened fire at near point blank range, only to find Sonic doing a handstand on the barrel of his gun a split second later, the shot missing completely. Another officer fired after him, but he flipped off of the gun and stood on the head of another soldier.

"Be careful, you idiot!" that first officer yelled "You almost hit me…"

"Duck!" yelled another, and the soldier standing on Sonic ducked as another shot was fired, but once again it didn't even touch Sonic as he leapt into the air, curled into a ball and knocked most of the group about like a bunch of bowling pins.

"It's showing aggression! Kill it before it kills us!" another yelled, one who had been knocked down. But Sonic was already out of range as he took off in the opposite direction "Damn it, it just ran away!"

"Should we pursue it, sir?"

"Negative… it wins this round… Patch a call to NERV… tell them to watch out for… whatever that was."

"Yes, sir."

In the meantime, Sonic was running off as fast as he could, until he was no longer in sight of the harbor.

"Not very friendly… What have I gotten myself into now? Eggman, I will find you… I know you're around here somewhere… wherever 'here' is. That city is the most likely place he could be… I just hope the people are friendlier."

And on Sonic went.

To Be Continued


	3. Eggsactly as Planned

Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis

Chapter Two: Eggs-actly As Planned

Eggman's ship quickly appeared in a rather desolate location, it looked almost like an enormous explosion had scorched the area only some time ago, no, not scorched, but totally annihilated it…

"It worked… the EDI worked!" he laughed "But… where did it send me? It appears something of an enormous scale happened here. Time for some analysis."

So, he began typing some things into the ship's computer.

"Hmm, from what this says there's no evidence it was a meteorite impact, says here there's traces of some sort of explosive substance in the soil. A massive bomb…? Maybe I'm on a testing range or something similar… The EDI's information will tell me more."

More typing. When Dr. Eggman looked at what the screen said, he laughed.

"Possibility of two causes…. An Angel… An Angel? That's pretty weird…."

Eggman suddenly imagined a man wearing long, white robes with a pair of golden wings standing in the middle of the area and causing it to explode.

"Ho ho hoo! Now that's a hilarious image! Hmm, other reason says here that the people on this world developed a bomb with the power of a nuclear one but without the disastrous radiation that would have resulted… A Non Nuclear Bomb, it says… N² ! Hah! Yet, it still mentions angels…"

And so, he typed in the word Angel to his next query. When he saw the entry on "Angel", his jaw dropped. These "Angels" were some kind of giant monster, as he sifted through the images, not a single one looked alike. According to this, he had come to this world when a massive number of these things were attacking. His imagination changed to a more sinister thought… An army of these creatures at his command! He would be able to conquer existence itself with them under his control… But according to the information, they wouldn't be able to be controlled anyway.

"Bah… So close… But if such creatures exist… the military must have some sort of strategy to combat them without causing massive destruction like this… Let's see here, what else is listed here… Angel, N² Bomb, NERV, SEELE, Human Instrumentality Project… NERV and SEELE sound like corporations; Human Instrumentality Project, sounds like an experiment of some kind… Evangelion. Let's see what's under that… Hmm… Oh ho ho! They look like giant battle machines… Says here their known purpose is to fight the Angels…."

He continued to read the information, noting that these things were connected to NERV, and other varying tidbits. His interested expression turned into an evil grin as a plan formed in his head

"Oh ho… Oh ho ho… I think I've just found what I'm after. Let's see, according to this I have arrived around the time when these things appearing is somewhat frequent. So, using the information, I can predict their arrivals, which will surely gain the trust of this… NERV. Not only that, but, when Sonic arrives… Hoho… I'll make them believe he's an Angel. Not only have I found a usable weapon, but I'll be able to destroy that hedgehog once and for all! This is going eggs-actly as I wanted it to so far."

And he began to laugh aloud, it rang throughout the whole place, good thing there was no one around to hear it. His laughter soon subsided.

"Now then. Time to make an appointment with NERV!"

After a bit of searching, he found what he was looking for, an outpost near the city. It seemed to slope downward into the ground, it was heavily armored and heavily guarded. He decided to leave his hovercraft behind as to not make a commotion, and casually walked up to the front guards.

"Who are you?" asked one.

"This is a restricted area," warned the second "NERV personnel only!"

"I'm Dr. Eggman, the greatest scientific genius in the world!" he announced, but then he changed his tone "And I need to talk with your superiors."

"You have an appointment? Eggman, Eggman… No, not on the list! Please leave."

"I have urgent information regarding the… Angels, yes! I don't have time for the paperwork or to make appointments!"

"How urgent and important is your business, sir?" asked the first guard.

"Yes, any idiot who has seen the news knows about the Angels," added the second "If it's that kind of information, be on your way before we take action, sir."

"I know when the next one is going to attack. The attack is going to occur tomorrow. And the attack will occur from outer space. The Angel will be named Sah--"

"Enough!" yelled the first "The thing is… and I'm going to try and remain civil, SIR, do you have any proof of this? You could be making this up just to get attention. No offense, but you look rather eccentric and a little insane."

"Looks aren't everything, young man. Look, can I just PLEASE see your superiors? I promise if they want nothing to do with me, you can throw me out and I will never come back."

"What do you think?" whispered the second to the first.

"I guess we could let him in… if the Commander wants him out, then we won't have to deal with him again." said the first "He really freaks me out. Then again, the Commander's just as creepy, you know."

Eggman was just about to turn, however.

"Wait. You can see our superiors. Just no funny business, Doctor."

"Ho ho." Eggman chuckled "Then, let's go."

"You will have to be blindfolded, though."

"Whatever. Just take me to them."

"Let's go," said the first guard, blindfolding Eggman and leading the way. After what seemed like forever, through elevators, subways, corridors, and flights of stairs, everything stopped, and his blindfold was removed. He was at a pair of large doors. "Wait here a moment."

The guard vanished through the door, and the good Doctor waited... While attempting to listen in, of course.

"Commander Ikari… There is some strange man that wants to meet with you. We tried turning him away, but he insisted."

"And?" came a low, domineering voice.

"He says he has information about the next Angel attack. He says he's a doctor… of what, we don't know, but…"

"Hmm." came another voice "Ikari, what do you think?"

"Send him in, I guess. You're dismissed."

Eggman quickly took his ear off the door and stood there casually as the guard left.

"Go on in." he said before leaving.

Eggman nodded and opened the door and entered… an enormous room. Not just enormous, but really… desolate. Surrounded by windows, it was somewhat dark. In the middle of this room was a desk, surrounded by arcane images and symbols. He walked to the desk, where two men were, one seated, with short, black-brown hair, and a pair of rose-tinted glasses that hid his eyes from view. He also had his hands in front of his face, they were covered with white gloves. The other stood, a tall, thin man with gray hair. Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutsuki, these two…

"Greetings, Commanders," Eggman began "I am Dr. Eggman."

"Come again?" Gendo asked skeptically, raising an eyebrow.

"Dr. Eggman, Ikari." Kozo responded.

"Ah. I thought I misheard. 'Eggman'. Interesting name, Doctor."

"Thank you, Commander… Ikari," Eggman replied, while adjusting his glasses with one hand "And I must say, you have incredible fashion sense."

Kozo glanced at the two men several times for a moment. Both wore spectacles that you couldn't see their real eyes through. Both seemed to have a perchant for wearing white gloves. And Eggman's red jacket looked a little like the customary uniforms'… There was something about these two men, one he had known for a long time, and this one that had just come along, to see them no less. Something about them made them look sinister, especially in this room. It was uncanny.

Gendo's expression did not change.

"I'm not one for cheap flattery, Doctor."

"Nothing cheap about it. It's true."

"Hmm, well, you're lucky you're even here. So, tell me, Dr. Eggman. What is this information you have that's so important to come barging in without an appointment?"

Eggman quickly recanted what he told the guard, this time finishing from where he was interrupted.

When he was finished, the two men looked at each other for a moment then back at him.

"Fascinating you know so much, Doctor." Gendo finally said, actually breaking a smile, or at least what looked like one "You even know information that is not privy to the public. Only we know that the next Angel is Sahaquiel."

"I'm a man of many studies." Eggman responded "And as to how I know such things, that's a secret."

"Nonetheless, Doctor, we do not really need this information you have. Then again, you say you know how and where the Angels will attack? That is fascinating. But, we already have a master of the sciences working for us full-time. You are simply unneeded, even with such interesting strategic information."

"I see. But what if your master scientist gets sick or decides to take a vacation or something? Surely you'd need a replacement, even for a temporary absence. I know much on mechanical and genetic sciences, like my father before me and his father before him. I could stay around for a trial basis, at least. If you don't think I'm useful after a while, you may toss me out."

"Maybe we should at least give him a chance, Ikari." Kozo finally added "He seems very experienced and willing."

"That is true, but…" Gendo began "There are many secrets that we have chosen to keep the public and even our staff in the dark about… can we trust you not to leak any information you gain from being here?"

"You can, Commander Ikari," Eggman lied "Anything you do not want me to know, just simply keep me away from it."

"….Alright then. You can work with us on a trial basis, Doctor. But if you try anything we don't like, you will be terminated."

"I understand. And thank you for doing the same of me."

"Here. This is a map of the complex. Don't get lost or try snooping around. Go here…" he said, circling something with a pen, and then handed Eggman the map "The guards will be watching you. When you get there, ask for Dr. Akagi. When you meet the blonde in the lab coat, that is her."

"Understood. Thank you again."

"No problem."

And with that, Eggman left.

"Do you really trust him, Ikari?"

"Not for a second. There's just…"

"…something about him?"

"Exactly. We will have to keep a close eye on him for sure."

In the meantime, Eggman continued to follow the map of the facility, it felt so good to have that blindfold off this time. Of course, he was being watched, and he decided now was not the time to be looking around. First thing was first: Get involved with these people, and blend in. And what better way than by being a scientist?

After a while, Eggman made it to the spot he was supposed to be. Hmm, there was no one here.

"Hello?" he called out. No response. "Well, this is just great. Where is she…?"

He looked around a bit, making sure not to touch anything that seemed important. Now was not the time…. Then again, there was no one around, so maybe… he glanced around once more before reaching out to touch something that seemed of interest.

"Ahem," came a voice "What are you doing?"

Eggman leapt three feet in the air and turned around. Behind him was a fair, blonde woman with green eyes. She wore a blue shirt, a black skirt, and purple leggings. Her look was topped off by red earrings and of course, a large white lab coat.

"I… was just getting a closer look at this. Er, I, uh, you must be Dr. Akagi."

"Yes, I am." she said, as her look changed to a questioning one. "But who are you, and why are you here?"

"I'm Dr. Eggman. Uh, Commander Ikari sent me. Telling by your reaction, he, uh, didn't tell you I was coming."

"Dr… Eggman? That's one I've never heard before. And no, I didn't get any word from Commander Ikari about you. And I only came here to check up on a few things. So, I'll ask again, why are you here?"

"The Commander wants me to be your assistant."

She didn't seem too pleased with this.

"Assistant? What makes you or Ikari think I need an assistant?"

"Because you were here first, I'd think. The Commander doesn't exactly trust me, you see. I came barging in to talk to him. I suppose he wants me to be under your supervision. Besides, what if you're out on something? Surely my presence would lighten your workload."

"I see," she replied with displeasure still "What are your qualifications, exactly?"

"Robotics, biotechnology, physics, and chemistry."

"Impressive. Okay, then. I'll have to clear some things with the Commander for bringing this on such short notice, but I suppose you can help me. If you think you're up to it."

"Certainly, Dr. Akagi."

"I just hope I'm not going to regret this, Dr. Eggman. When I get back, I'll get you started. Just don't touch anything. I will know if you do."

"Wouldn't think of it."

With that, she left. A close call, that. But now he was definitely in. His plans were going just as he wanted them to. He grinned. It would only be a matter of time before all of NERV would be wrapped around his finger.

To Be Continued


	4. Blue Hedgehog's Dilemma

****

Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis

Chapter Three: Blue Hedgehog's Dilemma

NERV Headquarters

Today, the entirety of NERV was bustling with activity. According to the new staff member named Dr. Eggman, today would be the day of the next Angel attack. Eggman's predictions for the last two had been surprisingly accurate, including the creatures' attack methods and physical descriptions. According to Eggman, the next Angel would start from the air and then attack from the ground in some strange manner. That's all he informed them of, though. The Evangelions and the Children were on standby for whatever was to come.

Eggman had become quite the prominent figure in the past month he had been there. His accurate predictions had gained the praise of a large number of the staff, but at the same time raised a large feeling of skepticism in more. How the hell did this guy know all this stuff? And how had he managed to gain so much standing within only a month's time? It was just too strange and convenient, especially for such an eccentric figure. It was a mystery how his skinny legs didn't break from supporting that egg-shaped body. Hell, he was weirder than the Commander himself!

Commander Ikari, however, was not present on that day. He was doing something else, somewhere else. At least Eggman wasn't left in charge. Despite his good standing, he was still just another scientist.

However, in the time he spent with Ritsuko, he had seemingly gained her trust within that month, despite her standoffish reactions in the beginning. So in reality, he was her secondary, with privileges given to him from the higher ups. However, he didn't seem to make any use of said privileges… at least when others were looking.

Eggman was busy chuckling to himself as he concocted his schemes in his head. He was doing better than he thought he would in such a short time… And best of all, Sonic had not arrived yet. He hoped he would luck out and get everything he needed done before Sonic appeared. Soon, the twelfth Angel would arrive… As he thought about this, he got a call to come to the Command Center.

"Hmm?" he grumbled "It's still a little early. The Angel doesn't arrive for a little while longer."

He hopped up anyway and made his way to the Command Center. It was somewhat of a long walk and elevator ride to the place, but Eggman made it in record time. It appeared everyone was there who was there usually… Major Misato Katsuragi, Dr. Akagi, and the main bridge crew, Aoba, Hyuga, and Maya. Meanwhile, on the tower up above, Kozo Fuyutsuki sat, watching over everything. Ikari was absent again, Eggman noted. Probably something pertaining to that living doll girl.

"Ah, Doctor, there you are," Misato said with a false kindness. She didn't like Eggman one bit. There was something so… icky about him. It was a wonder how Ritsuko could put up with the jackass, she thought. However, today, she had just received word that Eggman's prediction was not coming true this time around "There have been reports that the next Angel has arrived, and arrived early."

"I see," Eggman sighed "Well, I can't be one hundred percent accurate all the time, Major."

Ritsuko turned to Eggman and gave Misato a small look.

"Actually according to the reports, you were a hundred percent wrong this time, Eggman," she said stoically "Two out of three aren't bad, I suppose…"

"It's enough to put his position in jeopardy, though, Doctor," Misato replied, throwing a smug look Eggman's way "You do know that, right?"

Eggman began to sweat a little. What she was saying was true. Gendo and/or Kozo could fire him right that moment. And then his plan would be for naught, and he'd have to go home disappointed and defeated yet again.

"Any idea what the next Angel is like, then?" he asked.

"According to the report, Doctor," Misato began "The new Angel is actually small, about the size of a human. It was found in the cargo hold of a supply ship. The military tried taking it out, but it took them down and escaped. According to them, it is headed straight for Tokyo 3. An eyewitness described the creature to a forensic artist. The image should be coming in any minute."

Eggman blinked. Strange.

"The image has arrived safely!" Hyuga announced as the printer started up and produced an image. Ritsuko quickly took it and looked at it.

"A-amazing…" she whispered "It has the properties of both animal and human. It's about the size of a ten year old human. It's got no visible core, and its back is covered in razor sharp spines that stick from its head down to its short tail."

Eggman shuddered.

"May I see it?"

"Yes. Here it is, Doctor."

He took the page from Ritsuko's hand and looked at the sketch, and did a double take. On the paper was just what had been described. A freakish creature with tendril-like spines sticking out of its strange, wolflike head. Its eyes were situated almost to the front of its forehead, and according to the paper, were a vibrant green. The creature stood on two legs, with strange marks and a single toe on each. Its humanoid arms ended in white hands, and the hands almost seemed to touch the ground like a gorilla's. It was a strange, perverse.. Thing. It looked quite familiar to him, though, even with how the artist had made it. There was no doubt in his mind, and his voice went into a shocked whisper.

"It's… it's him. The hedgehog… of all the bad timing."

"What, Doctor?"

Crap! He had to cover his tracks with some excuse. A quick one.

"Oh, er, nothing! I was wrong. That Angel I described is the one AFTER this one! Y-yeah! This is Leleil, the Twelfth Angel. I can't believe I mixed the two up. How silly of me."

He looked around. They seemed to have bought it.

"So much for using the Evangelions it would seem," Misato sighed "With that thing's size and according to those reports… its speed, it would run circles around the Evas. Lovely."

"They're getting smarter." Ritsuko sighed "This is going to be a problem."

"Luckily, the military is launching an all-out aerial and ground assault on the thing., and our missile units are waiting for it. I don't think it'll stand a chance, especially at its size. Even if it used its AT Field."

"You underestimate the thing, Major." Eggman said "This creature is quite resilient. Like the other Angels, military force isn't going to do much. With its size and speed, it will overwhelm whatever the military throws at it. Only chance is to use…. The collaborations."

"But…" Ritsuko protested "We haven't even tested the things yet! I still don't know how they completely work, even though I helped you make them! You said they're only prototypes."

"Dr. Akagi, we will have no choice but to use them now. That thing must not get into the Geofront! And with its size, that will be quite easy if it finds its way into the ducts… besides, they run on the Iruel II AI program. Not only will they be relentless, but they have AT Fields to counteract the Angel's, as well."

"Let's not jump into anything yet!" Misato barked, taking control of the situation. "Let's see how the military and our missile silos do first. Eggman was already wrong on what the Angel would look like and when it would arrive. He might be wrong about this, too."

Eggman humphed.

"Really, Major Katsuragi? I've noticed you don't like me very much. I think you just want me gone, heh heh. You're just jealous I've done so much for you in so little time. You should be praising me for making your job so much easier!"

Misato's face went sour right then and there.

"Really? How is it that you know so damn much? You seem to know EVERYTHING! I don't tolerate some… some goddamn newbie outclassing me. You think you're so smart, Eggman. Well, I think you're a big fake!"

"ENOUGH!" Kozo shouted through the intercom "Both of you, stop this pettiness and do what you're supposed to, or you will BOTH be relieved of your duties once I talk to Ikari. Is that clear, Doctor and Major?"

Both sighed, defeated.

"Yes, sir."

After that, they were eerily quiet, glaring at each other.

"Angel has been sighted, and is being put onscreen!" Aoba called.

And so, onscreen he came. Sonic the Hedgehog, or as NERV was believing… Leleil. The Twelfth Angel. The whole crew almost did a double take, except Eggman. The creature looked sort of like the sketch provided, but for the most part it was quite inaccurate. The creature ran something like a man and a cheetah, and surprisingly it was going faster than either. It looked a lot sleeker and cartoonier than the sketch by a long shot. Quickly, the sketch was discarded and Sonic's screenshot replaced it.

"That's weird," Maya said "The creature's pattern is red. And there is no semblance of an AT Field around it. It's like we're just getting a view of a human or animal, for the most part. There's nothing to say that it's an Angel, except it's unlike anything that exists."

"One of its trade secrets is stealth, Lieutenant." Eggman said, once again having to cover his tracks "It isn't showing up on radar because it's not in attack mode. Even in attack mode, it won't register. It is an Angel, that's all that there is to be known. It will destroy us if not stopped. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," Maya responded halfheartedly. She didn't like Eggman at all, either. He seemed to take up all of her mentor's time on those weird projects of his, well theirs. Not only did she feel a bit usurped, but Eggman frankly gave her the creeps. If anything, he was an Angel. Eggman also treated her like she wasn't even there, except when he wanted to order her around. She didn't like him one bit, but didn't tell anyone about it. Not even Ritsuko. Back to work under the Egg's gaze.

Ritsuko believed Eggman was correct, however. There was just something about this creature that was unsettling. The only explanation she had was it was a strange, stealthy Angel. But somewhere deep within, there was something too convenient about it.

****

Somewhere Near Tokyo 3

Sonic edged closer and closer to the city. Even with his speed, he was still part of the way there. He had to find Eggman and stop him from whatever he was doing. But then, he suddenly heard a whirring and whooshing sound. He looked back just in time to see a volley of missiles fly out at him. He could only grin.

"Looks like the military's after me now!" he chuckled, and started running backwards arms crossed, still towards Tokyo 3, mockingly "Well, I may as well show 'em what I can do, eh?"

Sonic quickly leapt into the air, and over the missiles, which crashed into the ground and promptly exploded, just inches from him. He looked around and up to notice a couple jets flying towards him, locked onto him, firing another volley, which seemed to hit its mark.

"Got it!" one of the pilots cheered, and then his jaw dropped as Sonic flew up into the air and landed on the nose of his fighter. He was a little toasted, he had used the explosion to propel him.

"Yo, how's it goin'!" Sonic laughed, pulling down his eyelid and sticking out his tongue before blasting at one of the engines and made the fighter have to land. In fact, he flew through the air, mashing the engines of the other two planes, before falling to the ground and returning to his run towards the city. "Way WAY too easy! That was fun, but completely boring!"

More missiles and more planes came, but Sonic simply toyed with them, causing their own missiles to hit others before finishing off the engine of the last one standing. Sonic hoped none of them were seriously hurt, though. He edged closer to the city now, and was met with no more military resistance for a short while.

****

NERV HQ

"The Angel just took out seven of the JSSDF's best fighters!" Hyuga announced "And it's entering the city outskirts now."

"Eggman was right…" Misato groaned "This thing's not only taking down what's being thrown at him, he's mocking and toying with them! If it could do that, who knows what it could do to the Evangelions. Alright, then, get all missile launchers and silos ready to fire at that thing at a moment's notice! And lower the buildings into the Geofront when it reaches the city!"

Eggman grinned. Sonic was doing just as he usually did. Even with his size and seeming insignificance, he was seemingly unstoppable. Of course, his new toys he had created with Ritsuko and the world's materials' help, they would thrash Sonic, he hoped. He had to get rid of him now!

****

Tokyo 3 Outskirts

Sonic chuckled as he finally reached the outskirts of the city. This was too easy…. But he knew somehow Eggman would show himself soon enough with his current antics. Eggman would have to try his hardest to not notice his presence. As he got closer, suddenly the hills opened up, revealing extensive missile silos! They began firing blasts off at Sonic, who whizzed and zigged and zagged around the explosions and missiles, that cocky grin of his on his face. Then, there was an interesting sight to behold… the city's buildings… were lowering into the ground.

"There's something about this city that looks like a lot of fun!" Sonic chuckled as he watched, continuing to dodge. Suddenly, a whole barrage exploded tightly around him, and to the command center it looked like the blasts had nailed him, but he quickly blasted through the smoke and dust, covered in soot, which quickly flew off thanks to his speed. Soon he arrived in the center of the city, the buildings still lowering into the ground.

NERV had no choice now. It was time to unleash the Egg-Akagi Collaboratron prototypes. And Eggman was oh so happy to give the order.

Sonic noticed something rise from the ground ahead, what looked like a small, metal building. His ears perked as he heard a whir come from inside, and then a whoosh as it opened, sending out a trio of robots, about the size of grown men. There was no doubt in his mind on what these pretties were.

"Alright, Eggman!" Sonic laughed "Let's see what your new toys can do, eh?"

The robots blasted forward, and in no time at all, detected their target. Sonic saw them coming, and these toys were easily going his speed. He sped up, creating a sonic boom behind him, which rang out across the area.

"That thing!" Hyuga shouted "It just broke the sound barrier."

"What?" Misato asked, mouth agape "How… impossible!"

"Amazing." Ritsuko whispered.

Eggman simply grinned and looked at the readouts from the robots.

"Go, my children! Crush that hedg… Uh, that Angel! Dr. Akagi, be proud of what our pet project is about to accomplish!"

"Mmm. Indeed. Let's see what these can do."

The robots themselves broke the sound barrier in a matter of seconds later, and crashed into Sonic, sending both parties flying.

"Yeow!" Sonic cried before retaliating "Those things pack a punch. But I pack a bigger one!"

He quickly blasted into the air, and homed in on the three things in quick succession. Other than throwing them off balance, it didn't do much. But it gave Sonic all he needed to stop, and rev up, in a ball on the ground. He flew forward at an amazing speed, crashing into a bot and knocking it several yards away, while the NERV personnel watched, amazed. But once again, the robot got up, and this time, something materialized around it, some sort of semitransparent, red field. And suddenly, the other two robots lit up the same way.

"What?" Maya said "They-- those are AT fields, and…. The robots are…. Pattern Blue!"

"What the hell is going ON?" Misato shrieked "Those things are reading out as Angels, and the AT fields are showing signs of incredible power! What sort of monsters have you two created?"

"They're about as much monsters as the Evangelions!" Eggman said a little offended "Using some remaining data from the previous Angel, I and Dr. Akagi created a new AI program… Okay, so I did the most of the creation, but anyway. You did hear that detail earlier. These are the beginning of the uses for fantastic Iruel II AI program. These robots are near unstoppable, a new assisting force in Angel fighting."

Sonic began attacking again, only he was repelled by the fields of the creatures, and even worse, these fields were hurting him. And that's when they fired off several photon rounds at him, they contacted and sent him flying with a pained yell. What the hell were these things? Eggman seemed to have created the perfect weapon against him. He tried getting the things to hit each other, but they were so smart they didn't do a thing but follow him!

"I don't believe this, this is completely…" Sonic groaned, and then looked up. There was something in the air above…. A large, black and white striped ball. It had appeared from nowhere.

"Oh crap." Eggman sighed to himself.

"Is… isn't that the Angel you described, Doctor?" Misato asked.

"It must be a double team or something," Ritsuko replied "Pattern?"

"Orange." Maya said.

"Have the new machines keep the blue Angel at bay," Misato ordered "As for the one that's just arrived, do I have to ask?"

"N-no ma'am!" Hyuga said "Launching the Evangelions, NOW!"

Eggman sighed. He was running out of clever excuses. Damn that hedgehog. Damn him to hell.

Sonic realized there was only one strategy right now. Run, and keep his distance from the robots. And so he did, dodging their rushes and photon shots to the best of his abilities, but some still hit him, and it was beginning to wear him down.

Suddenly, there was a loud trio of crashes and clicks. Sonic quickly blasted up an abandoned building, the robots following. Three tall buildings had just risen from the ground, and their doors had opened. The striped ball still hovered in the air, as if it was waiting for something. And then, from each building, something arrived with a loud whoosh and crash. And then, Sonic watched in awe as he continued to dodge the assault against him. Three enormous figures came out of the buildings. One blue, one purple, and one red. Each seemed to be wearing enormous suits of armor and some sort of coverings.

Sonic didn't know what these were, but the others did.

Evangelions.

****

To Be Continued

Author's Note: Cliffhanger, baby! Now that I've gone through the boring preparation through the other chapters, the real fun began with this chapter. Ohh yes. Welcome now, to the real start of the story. I may have made a couple mistakes with characterization, but hopefully it wasn't too bad or noticeable. I am going to do my hardest to keep the Eva cast in character. Stay with me, will you?

Small edit: Typos fixed. Thanks for pointing those out, Cylon One!


	5. Angel? No way!

**Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis**

**Chapter Four: Angel? No Way!**

**Tokyo 3**

"What have I gotten myself into?" Sonic sighed. Seemingly invincible Eggbots. Some sort of weird, floating orb thing. And now, gigantic humanoid things. As far as he could tell, The only things Eggman probably had influence over were the robots, and maybe the giants. As for the… thing, floating up above, that was news to him. Time seemed to stand still now, like an event was waiting to happen to throw everything into complete chaos.

The giants had taken cover behind assorted buildings, the blue one carrying a large rifle of some sort, the purple with a pair of handguns, the red wielding a large axe. The giants would occasionally glance at the floating orb wordlessly.

If Sonic had been in NERV's command center, he would see a slightly different side to the story. The giants were an integral part of NERV's defense system. Within the giants were one pilot in each, the pilots but mere teenagers of the age of fourteen. While Sonic saw wordlessness, NERV saw and heard the pilots, along with everything else. Currently, there was a discussion of how to act on the situation. Sonic was currently being distracted by the EAC-P units, while the sphere just floated in the air, still waiting.

Shinji, the only boy in the group, a seemingly timid brown-haired child with a fear of interpersonal confrontations and a habit of profuse apologies stemming from that fear was still happily, silently mulling over his currently number one synch score among the pilots, even in such a tense situation as this. It was an achievement to be proud of.

Of course, there was one person who didn't think so, at least for him. That would be the redheaded Asuka. Brash, competitive, fiery girl, her almost Sonic-like battle demeanor hiding deep-seeded internal struggles. She saw herself as the best, the number one Evangelion pilot. Being upstaged by Shinji was not pleasant for her. Speaking of Shinji, she was currently bugging him about his synch score, albeit in a strange way.

"I think the one with the highest score should take the lead!" she said with a cocky cheerfulness "And it appears that would be you, huh, Shinji? Of course, if you're not feeling up to it, well then, I guess you're not so great after all."

Shinji, of course, glowered, and took the girl's challenge.

"Of course I can do it." he muttered "In fact, I'll show you how it's done, and done right."

"What did you say?" Asuka questioned bitterly as she heard the do it right remark.

Misato gave a glare to the communications monitor at them both.

"Now, cut that out."

"But, Misato, you did tell me I was number one, didn't you?" Shinji asked, a reminder of Misato's praise earlier in the day. Indeed, it was true.

"Yeah, I did, didn't I?" Misato admitted sheepishly.

Shinji did have a cocky streak at times, and I guess you could say he was on one now.

"Fighting is a man's job after all, right?"

Asuka was flabbergasted by this remark, but only momentarily.

"How old-fashioned and sexist was that, eh? Urgh…. Eva-02 will back him up!"

"And Eva-00 will be right behind them," came a cool, state the facts mannered voice. This voice belonged to the other female pilot, a pale girl with light blue hair and a pair of red eyes that could look into your soul if they wanted to. Rei Ayanami, the girl, a strange one who seemed nothing but being professional was in her personality. She seemed like a doll, and hardly opened up to anyone, save Commander Ikari.

But, anyway, Misato was somewhat annoyed with Shinji doing this without her authorization, and she let this out audibly to Ritsuko, and much to her chagrin, Eggman as well.

"Guess the boy's becoming a man, eh, Katsuragi?" Eggman chuckled, brushing his mustache thoughtfully with one hand.

"Indeed, he is seeming to become more manly," Ritsuko agreed.

Misato grumbled.

"When he gets back here, he's going to get an earful from me. I swear."

Ritsuko smiled.

"You might just make an excellent teacher with that attitude, Misato."

"Yeah, yeah."

In the meantime, Sonic was once again strafing shots from the pursuing robots, as the Evas began to move closer to the floating sphere, Eva-02 comically reaching maximum length on the power cable in its back, jerking to a stop momentarily, Asuka complaining from within, before ejecting that cord and attaching another one that had been in a compartment inside the adjacent building, before moving on like usual.

Sonic decided that maybe, just maybe he should move the action to the floating sphere, as it seemed to be the other major point of interest aside from him. Besides, it'd probably be a lot more fun. And with that, he broke off into a run towards the sphere and the giants, the EAC-Ps hot on his heels

Eva-01 of course, was the closest to the sphere, Shinji waiting for his comrades to come, but he was already getting itchy to make a move now. Sonic had strafed around Eva-00's feet, causing one of the pursuing machines to crash into it in the process with a loud bang, making the Eva stumble momentarily, Rei giving off a look of indifference from within it, before beginning to pursue.

Sonic swore to himself.

"Great, now I've got one of the giants after me. This is just not my day."

He took off faster, the smaller machines boosting ahead, keeping up with him. At that moment, he turned the corner onto a street that headed right for the purple 01's target location. The bots didn't crash into the building and kept coming. Sonic quickly upped the ante and caused another sonic boom, getting directly under the sphere. The loud bang startled Shinji, who in turn panicked and fired up at the sphere… which vanished. Sonic noticed. The pilots noticed. NERV noticed.

The sphere's apparent "orange" pattern changed. I'd say what it was, myself, but I think Hyuga would say it better.

"P-p-pattern Blue!" he cried "It's an Angel, and it's….. UNDER Eva-01!"

And with that, a black, inky shadow appeared under the giant, and expanded outwards insanely fast, fast enough for Sonic not to be able to do a thing but stumble on it… or rather, in. Meanwhile, the giant Evangelion was beginning to sink into the darkness, struggling to no avail, like it was in quicksand. Sonic, of course was much smaller and just fell in and own, the EAC-Ps flying in after, disappearing into the mess as well, losing sight of their target.

Eva-01, or Shinji, rather was panicking, firing into the darkness to no avail, the bullets simply flying into the mess like it was water.

"The Angel has just gone into its true mode," Eggman explained "The sphere is actually the Angel's shadow, and it would appear, a lure as well."

"And you couldn't tell this us before, WHY?" Misato yelled angrily.

"It skipped my mind, is all."

Misato glared.

"Is all? Bull."

Her expression changed a bit, however, as Shinji screamed and yelled in a furious panic.

"Misato, help me!" he screamed "Asuka? Rei? MISATO! Help!"

"Eject the plug, dammit!" Misato bellowed, in anger and panicked.

"I'm trying!" Maya responded "But it's not working! It won't work, and Eva-01 is sinking too fast!"

Indeed it was, its head now the only thing not submerged, Shinji's screams and pleas of help still ringing in the command center, until the head went under, and they stopped completely. It was immediately known that two things had happened. One, the Angel had turned into some sort of black, swallowing mass. And two, the Eva, Sonic, and the EAC-Ps had been swallowed into it.

"Shinji!" Misato yelled "Asuka, Rei, get Eva-01! Now!"

"On it!" both Rei and Asuka replied immediately, blasting towards the reappearing sphere and the inky darkness underneath it.

"That simple-minded fool!" Asuka grumbled to himself, her Eva thundering forward "he can get the high score in training, but in the real thing, he totally fails!"

In the meantime, the other remaining Eva fired at the sphere, only to get the same result, only the darkness deciding to expand underneath Asuka's.

"And it vanishes again," Eggman said, just before this happens "Be careful, Misses Soryu and Ayanami."

Too late of course, as Asuka was about to be swallowed by the darkness, only to have such a thing thwarted by quick thinking, the Eva using its axe and knife to scale a building, as cars and the building itself sank below.

"The whole city is sinking," Asuka said, stating the obvious.

"Shinji and Eva-01 are still in there," Rei stated.

Misato shook and glowered, before uttering out the order to retreat. There was protest, but she restated the retreat order sharply and seriously.

"That's an order. Retreat NOW."

After the orders to retreat, time began to pass, and speculations and analyses began. According to Ritsuko, and Eggman, if Shinji kept the life support functions to a minimum, he could survive for at least sixteen hours. Eggman also added that the other Angel, or should we say Sonic, would probably not survive as long. Too bad for him he had to hide his joy of finally smashing the biggest bug in his life.

-

Of course, as always, things weren't that cut and dry. For somewhere, in what seemed like utter, unending blackness…

A blue hedgehog floated, trying to comprehend what had happened and where he was now. Met with nothing but blackness and silence, all he could do was cross his arms over himself and try to figure it out.

And somewhere else in the blackness, an enormous hulking figure and the boy deep within also met with nothing. Shinji's attempts to sleep to conserve energy to the life support systems and himself with such were turning out to be a spectacular failure. Rather than helping him, it was having an evilly reverse effect. It made him feel worse.

Once again, he checked the radar and scanning equipment, to get nothing but white noise. Whatever he was stuck in, it was incredibly vast and empty, so extremely so to get nothing at all. He sighed, checking the timer on the wrist of his plugsuit.

"It's been 12 hours already….?" he murmured, flopping back in the seat "I'm going to die in a couple of hours… And I'm hungry, too…"

He looked around, checking one last time. Nothing… and then, his radar detected something…. But it was small, far away and seemingly insignificant. It couldn't be anything of importance… Could it? He shook his head and stared forward. And he did so, for some time.

Sonic, in the meantime, was also feeling the effects of being in this black place for such a long time. He hated sitting around with nothing to see or do, and was getting quite restless and irritated. He tried boosting himself in another direction and another, but it was so black that it seemed the had been in place the whole time. It usually wasn't like him to swear much, but at this moment, he was letting off spurts of it.

"Dammit!", he exclaimed "Isn't there any way out of his… this… PLACE? This…. Hell?"

He let out a scream of frustration, in hopes of being heard. No one responded.

Shinji, in the meantime awoke with a start, the scream coming up as feedback on the monitors. He looked around, and was about to search for the source of the noise, only to notice the chamber was getting cloudy…. Reddish-orange cloudy. The purification system was breaking down, and the scent of blood entered his nostrils, the taste on his tongue, it was as if he was floating in it. Suffice to say, the young pilot instantly panicked, shouting for help from people he knew, going unanswered making things worse as he began to pound and scratch at the plug's release valve. Another wave of exhaustion passed over him, and he slumped back down, mumbling and shivering.

"I hate this place…. I hate it…. Someone… anyone… help. I want out of here."

-

In the meantime, up top, a plan was forming on how to get Shinji out of his situation. But the plan that was coming along did not sit well with Misato Katsuragi at all.

"Run that by me again, Ritsuko?" she asked with slight venom.

"Forced salvage operation," the blonde scientist responded, adjusting the glasses she occasionally wore for such things "The way things are looking, it's the only way we're going to get Shinji out of this."

"What does this entail, Dr. Akagi?" Eggman asked, standing several feet away from the two women "It sounds complicated… and dangerous."

"Well, Eggman… it's actually a pretty simple procedure. We drop every single N2 Mine we have in stock into the central mass, while the other Evas activate their AT Fields at the same time. Hypothetically, the pocket dimension within the Angel has an interior circuit. We do this procedure, and we could disrupt it and essentially phase out the dimensional rift and cause enough explosive power, that, simultaneously, it would destroy the Angel, the Sea of Dirac pocket dimension, and get Eva-01 out in the process."

A nod from Eggman.

"That is pretty simple. But very dangerous, still."

"Not only that," Misato hissed "It would kill Shinji! KILL HIM! What's wrong with you? What…. How is this a rescue operation? HOW? How is it supposed to rescue Shinji if he's dead?"

"This isn't about Shinji," Ritsuko responded coldly "The priority of this whole operation is to recover the Evangelion. Whether the body is severely damaged is destroyed is of no importance."

"Now, wait a damn second!" Misato bellowed "Shinji--"

Ritsuko just looked at Misato, before responding quite calmly and bluntly.

"The pilot's life is of no concern at all."

During this moment, Eggman was already racing towards the two, to intercept the coming obvious event.

Misato's open hand swung forcefully towards Ritsuko's face with an enraged slap. Only, the slap failed to connect by mere micrometers, a white-gloved hand crushingly locked around the offending arm, Misato's eyes open wide, Ritsuko simply glaring from behind her glasses.

"Let me go, Egg!" Misato hissed "Damn you, let me GO!"

"Is it really necessary to be rash and do such a thing at a time like this, Major?" Eggman asked, the thickness and shine of his glasses hiding amusement "It isn't going to change anything acting like this."

And with that he let go, Misato jerking her hand way, glaring at both scientists, murder in her eyes.

"Why…. Why is Eva-01 so important, that you would kill its pilot to get it back?"

"There is nothing to say about it, Misato," Ritsuko growled "And you need to realize that this is your fault. If you hadn't given him such high expectations, he never would have done something so stupid! He wouldn't be in this mess."

"That's NOT what I asked you!" Misato roared, charging forward, Eggman not being able to stop in time as she grabbed Ritsuko by the collar of her lab coat, glaring down into her eyes. "Tell me what's so important about the Eva! What the HELL is important about it. Both you and the Commander, BOTH of you, seem to care about it more than life itself. What the hell is the Evangelion? What is it?"

"You've been told everything already. There's nothing else to say. Now, let go."

"You… you're lying…. Damn you!" Misato screeched, shoving Ritsuko back, before storming away.

"Well, that didn't go well..." Eggman sighed "Does this mean the plan is getting aborted?"

"No," Ritsuko said calmly, gaining her bearings "We're going with it. Misato knows her place, she'll allow it to happen, anyway. Eva-01 will be retrieved, at any cost."

"Oho. Yes, she'd never understand the true importance of this project… I shall go and talk to the crew and get the plan started."

"Roger that… wait, what do you mean by that? You know no more or less than she does."

"As I've said before…. Ritsuko," Eggman said, a large grin on his face, though turned away from Ritsuko's gaze "I have my methods of figuring things out. Oh ho ho…."

"Humph, you--" but Eggman had already disappeared out of earshot "You really make me wonder sometimes."

Ritsuko followed after that.

-

Shinji now lay unconscious in his seat, it now filled with red orange. But suddenly, everything vanished, Shinji awaking to a lot of blue, rippling like water. No cockpit, no LCL. Just blue. And Shinji felt completely refreshed. Where was he?

And that's when a soft, female voice called out to him.

"Shinji… don't give up. Live, there is still much for you to do."

"Who… who are you?" Shinji squeaked.

"Shinji. Continue on! There are so many people counting on you."

Visions of the past, visions of familiarity, even some not so. And a pair of ethereal hands on his face.

"…..Mother?"

-

Sonic was shivering, things were getting even more black. He tried to speak, but no sound came. The darkness was taking over. He was actually going to die here.

"_Damn you, Eggman… Looks like whatever you were planning worked. I'm going to die in this horrible place. You won. Tails, Amy, everyone… I'm sorry."_

"Don't give up yet!" a voice called from in a random direction, soft and female.

"_Huh?"_

"This isn't over. When have you ever given up on anything?"

"_Never. Sonic the Hedgehog never gives up!"_

"Then, why now? There are people counting on you…. Not just your world, but here. Eggman has just made himself an even larger threat."

"_You're right! And if he can become a threat to another world entirely, then nowhere is safe…"_

"Then, go. Follow my voice, it will lead you out of here. I know you can do it--"

And then, a name only Sonic knew, his own, real name. Only one other person knew.

"…….Mother?"

And with that, Sonic blasted forward, quickly gaining speed to seemingly impossible heights, towards this guiding voice.

"I won't give up! Eggman, I'm coming for you!"

-

And back in Tokyo 3, hundreds of bombing craft were moving towards the enormous black shadow, ready to carry out the plan that had been set. And on the border of the shadow, on opposite sides stood Evas 0 and 2, waiting.

"Well, this is it…." Ritsuko noted.

"The bombers are getting in range," Shigeru Aoba announced.

Misato just looked on wordlessly, giving glares to Ritsuko and Eggman.

"Here we go… I'm sorry, Shinji."

"Huh?" Makoto Hyuga gasped "I think… there's some activity coming from the sphere. Something's happening!"

"What?"

Indeed, something was happening. The side of the sphere bulged slightly for a moment, then returning to normal, and then bulging again. And then, a tear from the bulge, and a sudden spurt of red. Then another, this one going from a spurt to a steady spray. The entire bridge crew going wide-eyed at the sight. Blood was spraying out.

And at first unnoticeable, a pair of giant hands pulling the tear further open. And further. And now clearly visible, even in the crimson spray.

"Is that the Eva?" Maya gasped.

"It… it can't be!" Misato yelled.

"But it is," Eggman said with a smile and a nod.

"How would you--"

But it was, the hands pulling further, a crimson-stained one-horned head pushing out from the now quite large and intensely bleeding tear. And the Eva continued to rip and tear, its seemingly permanently-shut jaw suddenly popping open, a spooky cry coming from it. And it kept coming, the figure suddenly yanking, the sphere exploding open, spraying blood, before breaking up into large chunks, the Eva sailing down onto the shadow, and on top of it with a loud crash, crimson cracks appearing in the black and suddenly, even more blood flying up from these cracks in unbelievable torrents, the Eva completely stained dark crimson, eyes glowing, as the black shadow burst into chunks itself.

The bridge crew was in a panicked uproar, looking on at this horrifying sight.

"What…. What in the hell?" Misato mumbled.

And then, the Eva reared back, opening its mouth even further, before letting out a chilling, bellowing roar, that somehow sounded almost human. And again.

"What sort of… what sort of terrible monster have we created?" Ritsuko said shakily.

"_I've never seen anything quite like it," _Eggman though to himself "_Just what have I gotten myself into? I knew those things were special, but…. D-damn. This is incredible…."_

And meanwhile, on the border of the madness, Eva-02 stood, splatters of dark crimson on its armor, its pilot looking on, aghast. Asuka let out a slight whimper and gulped.

"Am…. Am I piloting…. Something like THAT?"

And Rei, with an uncharacteristic grimace, her eyes shut tight, shuddering, her near-white skin slightly greened. She was trying her best not to vomit from what she had just seen. She hated blood, oh so much.

And, now sitting on a bloody chunk of what used to be the Angel, was Sonic, on his back, completely soaked in blood, looking on in absolute horror. He shuddered, he gulped, he whimpered.

And then, for the first time in his largely eventful life… Sonic the Hedgehog let out a scream of pure terror.

**To be Continued**

**Author's Notes**

Damn, damn, damn, it has been a while since I've updated this at all. Just…. Man. But, here, at last, and finally, is the update. And will you look at that, biggest chapter in this fic to date.

I must humbly apologize for this taking so long, but like my Star Ocean novelization, I ran into problems while writing this chapter. In actuality, I had almost finished it a few months back, but my computer decided to be an ass, and ate a LOT of it. Take it from me, save your work, and save it often, even if things are going fine.

But, I think this turned out much better than what I had those months ago. I was so mad at my computer, myself, and even this fic, that I didn't attempt to write this for a while. And even after that, I got lazy. However, I got some pokes from certain people, you know who you all are. And eventually, I knew I had to finish the chapter or else. And today was that day.

What sort of work went into this chapter? Well, first off, LOTS of watching Episode 16. Since I'm trying to keep events in the Evaverse at least somewhat the same, episode watching is a must for me. I however, do try to not copy the script at all, rather adapt it into my own wording and style. Second of all was determination, something I lacked for a bit. But it finally came through. And thirdly? I had lots of fun writing this.

Also, as you may have noticed near the end of this chapter, things got BLOODY. Of course, such is to be expected, considering what happens in "Splitting of the Breast" I'm not holding back on the subject matter. But, I will try to keep this from going too mind screwy, and there will be some lightness. This isn't just Eva, it's STH, too. Actually, the only other chapter that will get this icky is the Ep. 18-based chapter. 'Cause what happens _is_ pretty gruesome.

Wow, this is a long note. I think I'll end it here. Til next time! And, NO, I will not make you wait like this again. …I hope.


	6. Variable of X to Y

**Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis**

**Chapter Five: Variable of X to Y**

The bloody mess of what once had been the Twelfth Angel now lay strewn in the middle of Tokyo-3, hazmat and military crews already beginning to wash and cart away its scattered remains.

In the meantime, NERV's Eva team were already beginning the process of ejecting and opening Eva-01's entry plug to rescue the pilot within. His vital signs were low, almost nil from the outside readings, and once the plug was opened, Shinji was found to be alive, although quite unconscious. If his Eva had not gone berserk when it did, he would have probably died. Misato had come with the crew, and refused to leave Shinji's side for the time being.

In the meantime, Eggman had joined one of the search crews, to look for Sonic. The men he was with were decked out in special-issue armor, and wielding high-powered automatic weapons, at the ready for any encounter with the "Angel". It wouldn't be so bad for Eggman if he wasn't waist deep in Angel blood. This day was just getting better and better. He was really hoping Sonic had been lost in the Dirac Sea, this way he would have no worries and his plans would go unallyed.

"Any luck?" he asked the team leader.

"None so far, Doctor," he responded "There's just so much blood, that if the creature is still alive, it's probably drenched in the blood, making it hard to spot. We'll find it, though."

Eggman nodded. "What will happen when you find him? Will he be destroyed?"

"That's what we're supposed to do, yes. These ain't standard weapons, and the critter certainly seems to have a weak AT Field, so this will be cake."

"_Don't be so sure of that…" _the round doctor mused to himself "_He's been faced with large beams of energy and survived them… he's gotten past security checkpoints and crushing objects that should stop any man… large spans of lava and spike traps , he's soared over them all. Everything I've employed against him, from booby traps to large mechanical weapons, to creatures like himself… He's gone through…"_

His thoughts were stopped, when the team leader shouted the order to halt… He looked up, and noticed they were looking at a chunk of flesh that had crushed a parked car on the road, a lump sitting on it, no, a figure, with its face buried in its knees, shivering lightly. The spines that protruded from its head were a dead giveaway.

"_So you survived, Sonic… I knew you wouldn't go down that easily…" _he thought with a look of impression. For every defeat, despite how horrible it was for him, even when he was angry with the hedgehog, Sonic never ceased to amaze him with his versatility "Is he… er, it asleep?"

'Would seem so," one of the soldiers replied with a whisper.

"All weapons at the ready, men," murmured the leader "If we can attack while it's sleeping, we should be able to terminate it easily."

"I leave this in your hands, gentlemen," Eggman said, backing away to let them try their thing.

The soldiers quickly used the surrounding environs to clamber onto the chunk of flesh, silently surrounding Sonic, their fingers ready to pull the triggers on their guns.

"Ready," the leader whispered "Aim…"

The soldiers aimed, and were ready to fire, when Sonic turned his head around a little, his green eyes opening, half-lidded, before speaking.

"So, so much… so much blood… why…?"

The leader blinked.

"It… it speaks human language…"

"What, what was that beast, that terrible beast…?" Sonic muttered "That roar, that figure… the blood."

The leader and his men were hesitating, actually hesitating… It was as if they were about to take down another human being, unarmed, and at their mercy. They were almost willing to take pity.

"What are you doing?!" Eggman shouted "Stop hesitating and fire! It's an Angel, don't let it trick you!"

The leader and his men nodded, stopping their hesitation and readied their weapons again.

"Ready…"

"Aim…"

"Stop!" called out a female voice, and the soldiers once again lowered their weapons and then turned around to see the source… Dr. Ritsuko Akagi, standing waist-deep in the blood, her white lab coat's lower half completely ruined, standing with several armed NERV personnel and one of their collaboration units. And Eggman knew it was her favorite coat, too.

"Ritsuko, what are you doing?!" Eggman exclaimed "They're about to take down the Angel… They are to be destroyed ,aren't they?"

"New orders. Commander Ikari called us when he found out about the incident. Seems the Sub-Commander told him what was going on after you and Misato's little squabble. We're to bring the Angel back to NERV, whether alive, or dead… Is it still alive?"

"Yes," replied the team leader "The Angel is still alive, and somewhat conscious, but in a shocked state. We were just about to finish it off, and…"

"Yes." Eggman responded "Allow them to do their job, and then we'll take the corpse, and…"

"Commander Ikari said if it was still alive, Doctor," Ritsuko said, holding out a manila folder "That we are to bring it back to NERV alive! A living Angel specimen that could be easily contained, it's something that might help us… And I have the signed papers to prove it."

"But…"

"Standing down and taking capture procedures," the leader said, lowering his gun and taking his finger from the trigger, Eggman attempting to protest, to get an orderly, firm response "She has paperwork, Dr. Eggman. We can't do anything about it right now!"

Sonic looked up at them for a moment, blinking, before uttering one more word before falling unconscious.

"Eggman…"

With that, capture procedures began, as they placed Sonic onto a stretcher, restraining his arms and legs with specialized metal restraints that were meant to hold much larger things in a bigger state, rather than these miniaturized versions, before loading him onto a helicopter and headed to NERV's helipad.

"So, Commander Ikari ordered it, Ritsuko?" Eggman inquired as they rode in the helicopter.

"Yes," she responded in an orderly fashion "There's nothing I can do about it. He's got the authority to. I don't. Besides… we just grabbed ourselves a living specimen. And of an easily containable size. We can find more about what makes them tick, even moreso than the Fourth Angel, as this one, is alive."

"You don't need to study what makes them tick… you already know. And authority? You have access to the central and terminal--"

"Quiet!" Ritsuko replied with a glare "These people aren't supposed to know that. You know it's top secret stuff that you shouldn't really be sticking your nose in, yourself."

Eggman twitched and frowned. "I apologize. I seem to have forgotten we were talking in a helicopter with other people. But I suppose you're right. You've now got a living Angel specimen to study."

Ritsuko nodded, before replying. "Damn, I ruined my favorite lab coat wandering over there. I should have changed clothes."

"Don't worry about it, Ritsuko… I'll buy you a new one, if the Commander doesn't buy you one, first."

"Nyeh, I don't think he would do that," Ritsuko said with a chuckle "Just not something he'd do. And, thanks."

"No problem," Eggman said, adjusting his glasses, as the two sat in silence for the rest of the trip.

The next few hours were a blur, as Sonic was quickly taken into NERV HQ, cleaned up, and quickly placed into a super-reinforced glass tube, his restraints removed for something lighter, but still as durable, before it was filed with LCL, and a special cryostasis chemical to try and keep him sedated, his shoes, socks, and gloves removed. His hands, underneath the gloves were humanoid, and yet, each finger had a chitonous claw rather than a regular fingernail, his feet nearly the same way, only with three toes instead of five, which all looked quite bestial.

Already, fur, nail, and blood samples had been taken, actually before he was placed in the tube, which continued to study and map his body while the samples were taken care of.

"This creature is amazing, ma'am," Maya said in awe "Never seen anything like it, even for an Angel. It's almost like someone just took human and fuzzy animal genes and spliced them together, though the spines kind of remind me of shark fins, somehow, even though as far as can be noted, they're actually bundles of quills imposed together into these sleek forms."

"Small quills forming larger quills in such intricate patterns," said one of the nameless members of the science division "Like, a crazily mutated hedgehog or a porcupine… only… it's an Angel, and well, they all look like mutant things, some to the point of insane abstraction."

"Yes, the Angel is quite interesting," Ritsuko replied "It must be very creative, to have chosen this form…As for the animal, I'd say more of a hedgehog than a porcupine, from what the scans say, it, well, he doesn't have the standard rodent teeth, they're kind of a mix between insectivore and human teeth. Almost like a hedgehog somehow evolved into a sentient intelligence. We'll know more as the tests get results."

"It's almost as if this creature isn't an Angel at all, but a new life form altogether," Maya noted "Eggman said that he knew it was an Angel, right? Something isn't adding up, ma'am. He may know what this thing is, whether Angel or not… But he's being secretive. Isn't that the way for everyone here, keeping secrets?"

"If he knows something, I'm sure he'll tell me. I don't think he's really the kind to keep a secret this big forever. We're both scientists, he'll tell me. I trust him at least that much. I know you're not fond of him, Maya, but he's the best we've got, now. He's the Angel expert, he knows when they are to arrive, he knows their patterns…"

Maya frowned, and then sighed. "I don't like him because everything he does or says, regarding to this… it, everything's all to convenient. He's leading many astray… Dare I say he's like the Commander, maybe even worse? He's got his own agenda, I can feel it."

"I trust them, Maya," Ritsuko grumbled "There's nothing more to be said. Yes, they may be secretive, but I can still trust them."

"You going to start 'trusting' him like Commander Ikari?"

Ritsuko balked at Maya's statement. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I know you're sleeping with him, ma'am. It isn't that hard to figure out, especially if you make observing things your life's work."

Ritsuko could only stare at her apprentice. Maya knew about her and Commander Ikari. Smart, observant girl, there. Her stare turned to a glare.

"Enough, Maya. We have work to do, so I expect you to do your share."

"Yes, ma'am," she said dejectedly.

Not too far away, Dr. Eggman was watching, trying to hear their conversation, but only getting bits and pieces, and began to think to himself.

"_Maybe you should listen to her, Ritsuko. After all, once those tests are complete, you'll know that Sonic isn't an Angel. I suppose it doesn't matter… the Old Men… Hmm. I will probably have to meet with them… again, soon."_

Several days would pass after that, the experiments and tests continuing off and on. Several times, Sonic almost awoke again, but they managed to keep him sedated.

In the meantime, at the hospital, Shinji was still unconscious, being checked on occasion by his fellow pilots, his friends, and his guardian. It was, that on the fourth day after the incident, he awoke. After being told what had happened, minus a few details he wasn't privy to knowledge to, his recovery would go by quickly and smoothly, and he would soon be able to go home.

Commander Ikari had returned on the second day, quite irritated, yet also quite interested in the current situation. Eggman had made a spectacular fool out of himself from the inaccuracy of this incident and how he had predicted it, and thereby adding chaos to what was supposed to be order. However, from this failure, Eva-01 was safe, the Twelfth Angel was defeated, and they had gathered a live specimen, this blue, spiny humanoid creature. Tests were going on to see just what it was, whether Angel or something else entirely. He was anticipating these results, despite the irrelevance in his grand scheme of things, as it could easily become quite relevant.

And it was thus, that the sixth day, the results would come. Sonic had been moved to a high-security area and put into an enclosed environment within NERV. The security, however, was lax enough so people could come by and look at Sonic, as if they were going to the zoo.

On this sixth day, a few people had gathered to look at Sonic from behind the super-reinforced glass, including Misato and the Children, including a recovered Shinji. It was a Sunday, no school for them today.

"S-so that's the Angel that we encountered?" Shinji asked "It's so small for an Angel."

"Well, so was that one that hacked into the Magi and infected the test bodies, but look at what it did, dummy!" Asuka replied.

"_And then Eggman uses a sample of it to create a new technology and make it a weapon for our own use…" _Misato mused to herself "_He's knee deep in this one's existence too, I'm betting. I hope Kaji finds that information on him soon… _Now, now, Asuka, there's no need for that… We don't even actually know if this thing is an Angel or not. We're still waiting on the test results."

Asuka humphed, before continuing. "Well, whatever. I'm just telling Shinji here that bad things come in small packages, kinda like your penguin, Misato. That, thing, was peeping into my room while I was changing yesterday! I swear, if it wasn't an animal, I'd throttle it so hard! He needs to know the concept of personal space! At least the pervert knows that much!"

Shinji could only sigh. Some things would never change, it seemed, and he continued looking.

"So, what if it isn't an Angel?" Shinji finally asked "Then what will happen?"

"Knowing NERV, they'll probably keep it around for a while," Misato replied "According to the reports, this one knows human language. Even if it isn't an Angel, it's something very different from the norm. If it is an Angel, I'm hoping they'll destroy it after they have the results they need. Damned Angels…"

"Knowing you, Misato," Asuka mused "If it isn't an Angel, you'll want to bring it home before you know it! Isn't that always the way, picking up strays like the penguin and the idiot?"

"Considering I'm your guardian, as well, that makes you a stray too, Asuka."

"Oh, shut up," Asuka growled, defeated.

They continued to observe for a few more moments, nothing especially interesting happening other than a few twitches from Sonic's prone figure.

"This is boring," Asuka said with a sigh "Can we go now? It's obvious it's gonna sleep all day."

"I suppose so, Asuka," Misato replied "Let's get going. Come along, Shinji."

Shinji was about to nod, only to stop when Rei suddenly arrived, still in her school uniform, despite it being a Sunday. Asuka always wondered how the hell she did it without the thing looking ratty or messy. Boringly stale and consistent outfit for a boring, stale, and consistent girl.

"Hi, Rei," Shinji said with a wave.

"Oh, great, just when things couldn't get any worse, here comes Wonder Girl!" Asuka grumbled.

"Pilots Ikari, Soryu, Major Katsuragi," Rei said, bowing.

"What are you doing here, anyway, Wonder Girl?"

"I came to see Specimen XY-257, as you seem to have been doing."

"Well, it isn't doing anything but sleeping, so there's nothing to really see," Asuka chirped "Then again, knowing you, you'd enjoy watching it sleep all day. You're just as boring as it is. And hey, you both have blue hair, so maybe you're related or something!"

"Well, your hair is pretty blue, Rei," Misato said with a giggle "Pay no mind to Asuka, you know how she is."

"Do not worry, Major Katsuragi," Rei stated "I try not to. Besides, our hair is a different shade of blue from each other. Looks more like Pilot Soryu's eyes, than my hair."

The other three blinked, before Asuka gave off a glare, Misato smiled, and Shinji, well, he just kept on blinking.

"Yes?" Rei asked.

"Rei, did you just… make a joke?" Misato asked.

And with a blank stare, she replied. "That was not my intent. I was being serious."

Misato looked at Rei for a moment, Rei looked right back.

"Damned poker face, how am I supposed to tell if you're lying or not?" she said with an exasperated sigh "Remind me, that if we ever wind up playing poker together, that I should just forfeit of Rei's playing?"

Shinji and Asuka nodded.

"I don't get it." Rei stated plainly, before turning back to the window to watch Sonic sleep.. But, as soon as she turned to look at the glass, Sonic began to move suddenly. Misato and the other two stopped in their tracks and turned around.

"It's waking up…" Misato mumbled "Be ready to head to the lockers at a moment's notice. It's a really secure cell, but if it's an Angel…"

Asuka and Shinji nodded quickly, however, Rei continued to watch.

The first thing that happened was Sonic sitting up, before stretching out his arms and yawning, his mouth wide enough to see his teeth. He groaned, his eyes still closed before standing up slowly, before semi-unconsciously doing some calf stretches, as if he was preparing for a race.

Misato blinked on in amazement.

"Calf stretches? It's… behaving like a regular human like that, doing morning exercises."

Sonic continued his little session, his eyes opening half-lidded now, the vibrant greens of his irises shining through despite that fact, before moving on to stretching and popping his back.

"It's exercising?!" Asuka exclaimed "I, I don't believe this. You're right, Misato, it's like watching a normal human… only that thing isn't human at all! What a strange Angel."

Sonic yawned again, before reaching behind himself to scratch his butt, followed by a loud, reverberating belch that could be heard from behind the glass. This is when he blinked, and twitched a little, and looked at his hand, clenching it several times in his view. He blinked. Where were his gloves? He looked at his other hand, and then down to his feet. It was with this, he realized he was in a large, metal room with an observation window, there were people there, watching, as he suddenly turned beet red, realizing he was completely naked, his hands quickly moving down to cover his crotch, even though nothing was showing, and he only wore shoes and gloves most of the time. But he was actually truly naked, as he wasn't wearing a thing. He looked around, in embarrassment.

Rei didn't bat an eye.

Misato looked completely dumbfounded.

"It… it's embarrassed that it's naked?"

"Duh, Misato," Asuka replied, as flabbergasted as her guardian "Wouldn't you do the same if you were naked and you realized there were people watching you?"

Rei just looked onward, Shinji turning around to give Sonic his privacy.

"_Oookay, so, you're naked, in an unfamiliar place, and there are people looking at you like you're some zoo exhibit," _Sonic though to himself "_And it's really, really freaking embarrassing and unnerving at the same time. How did I get here… Wait, I…. Oh…. I… the blood, the darkness, the… it wasn't a dream. And I'm now a captive of this agency, or whatever it is… Which means Eggman's involved."_

Sonic looked around a bit, noticing there was a bed and a water dish in one corner of the big, metal room, giving its otherwise barren nature some personality. Ugh, so they thought he was just a crazy animal, or an angel, or whatever. He sighed, lowering his hands, and walked over to the glass to look at the closest person there, which just happened to be Rei.

"It's… it's coming toward us!" Misato exclaimed "Get ready, anything might happen, here!"

Shinji, Misato, and Asuka backed off, a little frightened, but also curious at Sonic's movements, but Rei, she stood her ground and looked at Sonic, her head and gaze tilting down to level with him. Sonic kept his head down for a moment, before looking up to meet her gaze, crimson eyes meeting emerald, and they stared at each other, in silence, Sonic's hand moving up to touch the glass, Rei's own hand suddenly doing the same, their hands together on the glass.

The other three stopped, and stared, blinking, unsure of what to say.

And meanwhile, several levels away, Ritsuko was sitting in her lab, one hand drumming fingers on her desk, her other hand holding a lit cigarette, which she put to her mouth to take a drag, when…

"Ma'am, we, we just got the results," Maya said, coming into the office, holding a large manila envelope, Ritsuko quickly putting the cigarette in the ashtray on the desk.

"Hand it here, Maya," Ritsuko said, Maya complying quickly, before opening it, and began to sift through the papers, full of genetic and scientific technobabble she knew how to read by heart. She continued reading, at first blinking slowly, then blinking quickly, then slowly again, and then balking as she began to sift and read rapidly, before setting the papers down, turning to Maya and looking at her wide-eyed.

"Is something wrong, ma'am? What are the results? Is it an Angel? Should we go get some help?"

"It's… not possible. It can't be scientifically possible…" Ritsuko murmured "There's no way, I don't believe this."

"B-believe what?" Maya inquired, quite surprised, before Ritsuko handed her the results, and she looked through them, and paled as she finished her reading, before responding "Y-y-y-you sure? This, has to be wrong…"

"No, these results were done by the book, checked multiple times. I know how thorough these guys are. He certainly isn't an Angel, that's for sure… It should be Angel, Human, or not… but… not… Not a straight zero percent!"

**To be Continued**

**Author's Notes**

Aaand a lack of inspiration delays my writing more for this tale again! Thankfully, unlike last time, I didn't have any word processor problems except for one, but I only lost a couple lines from that, thank goodness.. Not much to say about this chapter, other than the plot is getting thicker and thicker. Keep an eye out, hopefully updating will get a little more steady now. And by steady I mean steady quick, not steady slow. Til next chapter.


	7. Fragments of Truth

**Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis**

**Chapter Six: Fragments of Truth**

Sonic and Rei's long stare into each other, accompanied by the stares at them lingered for what seemed to be an eternity, before the silence was broken by Sonic, himself.

"You remind me of someone…"

Rei was silent for a moment, before replying.

"I do not know why that could be. We have never met before."

"Never mind," Sonic said "It's just something in your eyes. It's the red."

"Red eyes? Someone like me?" Rei inquired.

"No, someone like me. Like I said, it's nothing important."

"I see," Rei said, lowering her hand and turning to the others "Why are you staring? Is something wrong?"

"She knew we were staring?" Asuka questioned.

"It would seem so…" Misato said, trailing off.

"I think they were staring at me… Miss…?" Sonic said, not knowing what to call her.

"Rei Ayanami," she responded "And you…?"

"Well, Rei, my name's Sonic. Like I said, they were staring at me. Since I got here, they've freaked. I suppose it's because they've never seen something like me before. Gotta love people!"

"Sonic…?" Misato murmured "That doesn't sound like an Angel name at all… Then again, what do we really know about Angels other than they're trying to kill us…"

If Sonic was in earshot, he would have had a quick response to that, but as it was, the only person who could really hear Misato's musings was Shinji, Asuka was paying more attention to the glass than her muttering.

"Maybe, it's not an Angel, Misato?" Shinji said, finally speaking up "It doesn't seem to be wanting to kill us now…"

"Now being the key word, Shinji," Misato replied "Who's to say about later? I don't think the waiting game is over just yet."

It was then that her cell phone couldn't help but beep, with a tune she had for only one person. She blinked, held up a hand, and excused herself.

"That's Ritsuko's ringtone. Excuse me," was all she said as she left the room and ducked into the nearest hallway, before answering her phone "Hey, Ritsu. Get the tests results back? What? Hey, calm down! You're mumbling too fast, I can't understand you. Ritsu, calm down, and just tell me… Wait, **what?! **Zero percent?! Solid **zero?!** How is that possible?! You don't know yet? Okay, okay, so… I take this means he's not an Angel after all? Okay, so what do we do now?"

From the room she and Maya were in, Ritsuko had only one response, before rushing out the door.

"We don't do anything until I get there! Understand?"

"I gotcha. I'll be waiting," was the response, which didn't have to wait long for results, as Ritsuko arrived almost instantly "That was fast. So, what are we going to do?"

"The creature's reported to be sentient and know human language," she replied.

"I know, I know, I heard it talk and saw it exercise just like a human. Pretty good Japanese for a… creature. Says its name's Sonic. Not an Angel's name, that's for sure. It's almost like a nickname or a codename. I'm sure you remember what he did during that last Angel attack."

"Broke the friggin' sound barrier. I know. So, it has a name. XY-257... It's called Sonic. Still doesn't explain how it shouldn't actually exist, but does."

"So, again, what do we do now?" Misato asked, wanting an answer this time.

"Prepare an interrogation room. If it can speak, then maybe it has some answers."

Misato nodded, dialing a number on her phone.

"On it."

A few moments later, Misato and Ritsuko arrived at the entry hatch to Sonic's environment, Misato pulling her beloved H&K SP for defense. The two didn't exchange any words, and simply nodded to each other, before Misato opened the door and slipped inside.

In the meantime, Shinji and Asuka had come forward to gain a closer look at Sonic, even managing to strike up conversation and some introductions, although it took some goading from Asuka to make Shinji speak.

"So, Shinji, Rei, and Asuka," Sonic began "What are three kids doing in what I can gather is a large military base? Doesn't seem like a place for you guys to be, no offense."

"We… work here," Shinji responded.

"Yes, indeed we do!" Asuka said with a grin, smacking her chest with her fist "We're Eva pilots! I'm the best one around! I suppose these two are okay, but I'm the best. Tee hee!"

"Well, you're certainly enthusiastic, Asuka," Sonic responded with a smile, before his face straightened "But why? And, just what is an Eva?"

"You've seen 'em! They're the giant…"

Asuka's response was cut off by Misato entering the room, gun raised, pointed at the ready in Sonic's direction.

"Freeze, creature!" Misato barked "Try anything, and I will shoot."

Sonic turned around, Asuka and Shinji looking at Misato in surprise. Sonic, however, only lowered his head and raised his hands.

"I could probably dodge it, but I don't want to cause any trouble," Sonic replied "Whaddya want?"

"Creature… Sonic," Misato replied, lowering her gun, but not holstering it "I want you to come with me. There are some important things we need to discuss with you. Will you cooperate?"

Sonic lowered his arms before raising one to give her a thumbs up.

"Show me where you want to talk., ma'am."

Misato nodded, now holstering.

"Follow me and Dr. Akagi, Sonic."

Sonic lowered his hand and complied, following.

It wasn't long before they arrived in an empty room with a desk and a few chairs, Sonic was motioned to the singular chair on one side of the room, while the two women sat on the other side, soon joined by a pair of NERV guards.

"Will you respond to our questions?" Misato asked.

"Ask away," Sonic replied "Though, I got the doctor's name, but not yours."

"We're the ones asking the questions, but I suppose I'll introduce myself, first. I'm Major Misato Katsuragi, Chief Operations Manager here at NERV. Now, then. What is your full name?"

Sonic said nothing for a moment, as if thinking, before responding.

"I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."

"So you are a hedgehog after all, then," Ritsuko said, bemused "Though, you don't look like or talk like any hedgehog I've ever seen.

"You're probably thinking of mundane hedgehogs, Doctor. As you can see, I'm certainly not mundane at all!"

Ritsuko nodded.

"Sorry about that, Misato. Continue."

"That sounds more like just your nickname and species, Sonic," Misato said "What's your real name?"

"I'm sorry, but that's a secret, Major," Sonic said with a chuckle "I don't like giving out my real name. My mother's the only one who knows it. Sorry, really."

"I won't pry any further on that front, then, Sonic. On to the next question… why are you here, exactly? I'm sure you've noticed there has been a lot of hostility towards you since you appeared. This is because we have no idea your intentions or reasons."

Sonic's expression got a little tense, if not a little angry, as he responded.

"Tell me about it! I've had people shoot at me, robots both small and ginormous trying to squish me, I was trapped in blackness and then thrown out covered in blood and other bad things, and now I'm here. It's pretty annoying, if you ask me."

"I wouldn't doubt it," Misato said with a nod "But, the question at hand, Sonic. For what intents and purposes are you here for?"

"I'm here on a mission. I'll tell you, it's been an adventure so far."

Misato tensed, already reaching for her gun, but she continued to talk to him, anyway.

"What mission is that? What brings you here to Tokyo 3? Are you here to invade NERV? If so, then we're going to have to lock you up again, or if push comes to shove, terminate you."

"Why would I invade NERV? No, that is certainly not why I'm here. Really. Speaking of which, why are you being so hostile?"

"I'll answer this one, Misato," Ritsuko interrupted "Do you know what an Angel is, Sonic?"

"As far as I know, they're human-looking messengers of God. With big, feathered wings and halos. Though, I have heard some of the people refer to me as one. I certainly don't look the part, doc, so something must be different around here."

Misato blinked, and then chuckled.

"Well, yes, those are supposed to be angels, but, no. We're referring to something different. So if you really don't know… Then he must not be one then, right, Ritsu?"

"It would appear so," Ritsuko said "Though you never know. But, yes, those aren't that type of angel. We're talking about the Angels. They're creatures, usually of massive proportions, that are currently trying to destroy the human race. They're called 'Angels' because their arrival was predicted by the Secret Dead Sea Scrolls, and were referred to as such within the texts. A perfect example would be that striped ball and the darkness you were thrown into for a time. That was an Angel."

"Well, I'm not here to invade NERV, and I'm certainly not here to exterminate humans, Doctor," Sonic responded "In fact… I'd never try to exterminate anyone. That's just not part of my ideals. In fact, my main purpose in life is to help anyone, humans or otherwise who are in need. I try to stop the injustices and tragedies that can occur."

Misato's tension completely left her, and she smiled, before replying.

"Well, then, that is very good to know. Here we are, thinking that you were here as a threat to us, but, if what you say is true, then we apologize for our actions… Or at least, I apologize. But, still, what is your mission?"

"I'm here to stop someone who doesn't belong here, Major."

"Oh? Do tell. And please, just call me Misato, if you want to."

"Well, Misato," Sonic said "I'm here to stop a mad scientist who has come here, from trying take over the world. I am here because I make it my life's work to stop him, whatever he tries."

Misato blinked for a few moments, the room becoming dead silent. But, she finally replied, already suspecting what she thought she might be.

"Mad scientist? And you say it's a male mad scientist? Well, I do know of quite a few scientists that are male, but mad scientists are usually a part in fiction. A real mad scientist is trying to take over the world…"

Ritsuko had stayed silent since the last time she said anything, and she was going to stay silent for the time being.

"Anyway," Misato continued "This scientist… this guy who wishes to take over the world, what does he look like? What's his name?"

"Well, for starters, he's round," Sonic said "And he's tall. Oh yeah, and he has this ridiculous, huge handlebar mustache, while being completely bald on the head. He's pretty eccentric."

Ritsuko and Misato balked, and then looked at each other, Misato's look was confident, Ritsuko looking as if it was trying to deny something.

"Is his name… Dr. Eggman?" Misato asked "Because there is a scientist fitting that description working here. And ever since he came here, I've been highly suspicious of him. Is that the man you're looking for, Sonic?"

"Oh yeah. That's Eggman, alright. How long has he been working here?"

"A couple months," Misato said, suddenly smirking "So, I was right. I was right… I knew he was trouble the moment the Commander introduced him to the rest of the staff… I knew he knew too much to not have an agenda. Sonic, thank you for telling us this. It would seem it was fate that you came here… There's only one thing to do now…"

And with that, she picked up the phone on the desk and made a call, pushing on one of the shortcut buttons. After a few rings, there was a response, and Misato replied back.

"NERV security. This is Major Misato Katsuragi. The new scientist, Dr. Eggman is a criminal. What? Yes, I know it's hard to believe, but I just got the info. He is a criminal. I want him arrested, immediately. I don't care how many of you have to go after him, I want him ARRESTED. Am I clear on this?! Don't shoot him unless you have to. …WHAT? I have to get permission from the commander or sub-commander? Oh, don't you worry, I'll get it."

And with that, she slammed the phone back down, not even bothering to call the main office. No, she'd storm down there herself. And so, before Ritsuko knew what was happening, Misato was gone from the office, the door slamming form her exit, the two guards re-opening the door and following close behind her.

Ritsuko was at a complete loss for words. The scientist who had become her understudy, the man she had been working on new endeavors with, someone who over the past while she could call a friend and confidant, was a crook? Was it true?

"It, it can't be true," She said, standing up and staring at Sonic "There's no way. Sonic… I don't know what you're trying to pull, but I don't believe you. I KNOW Eggman. I haven't heard about any criminal activity by a man with at name anywhere."

"It is true, doc," Sonic replied "Eggman is a shameless megalomaniac. His dream is to rule the world as the greatest scientific genius in existence… whether it be on this world or…"

But before he could finish, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi was out the door. She had to find Eggman. NOW.

"Well, this is just wonderful," Sonic sighed, shaking his head "Eggman, whatever you were doing here, it's all gonna be ending. Guess I should stay here until Misato gets back… Wait, what am I saying?! I'm not the type to just sit around! I'm coming, Eggman!"

And with that, Sonic was also out the door, the interrogation room now once again empty of any inhabitants, well, except for the spider that had made its home in the corner behind some boxes, oblivious to what had just occurred in the room.

**Commander Gendo Ikari's Office**

"Misato Katsuragi's at the door, and she has something urgent she wishes to speak to us about, Ikari," Kozo said, leaning down to his once protégé and now commanding officer.

"Let her in," Gendo said, his hands folded in front of his face.

Misato came in immediately, wandering over to about halfway in the room, before saluting.

"Commanders."

"Major, what is the urgent news you wish to talk to me about?" Gendo inquired, not wasting any time.

"We've gotten some information from the creature we captured. His sentience is amazing, it's like he's a human being. He's informed me that Dr. Eggman is here at NERV for nefarious purposes. What little trust you had in him, you can throw out the window."

"And, the creature told you this, Major?" Fuyutsuki asked, a little skeptical, while Gendo simply stayed in his trademark pose.

"Yes, Sub-commander. For all intents and purposes, the creature, which calls itself Sonic is not here to invade NERV or destroy humankind. He's here to stop Eggman from attempting a planetary takeover. He's probably been using NERV since the very beginning, sir."

"I see," Gendo said, his tone of voice unchanging "So, he has been lying to us. An interesting development. However. The creature, this Sonic, you do know he could be lying, just the same, right?"

"That could be possible, yes, but Sonic sounded completely sincere and honest," Misato continued "Even if he is lying, there is no doubt in my mind now that Eggman has been keeping secrets from us. From how he sounded, the two have a history. I have no doubt he's known about Sonic since the very beginning. I'm requesting permission to have him arrested by any means necessary, immediately."

"What do you think, Fuyutsuki?"

"I think we should listen to Major Katsuragi, Ikari," Kozo replied without pause "We haven't actually trusted him. A the very least, we should capture him so he can tell his side of the story."

"Very well," Gendo said "Put out the order. Dr. Eggman is to be found and arrested as soon a possible."

"This search could take a while," Misato said "Especially if he realizes we're on to him."

"Don't worry, Major. I know where Dr. Eggman is. He went to meet with the Committee but a little while ago. He hasn't returned from the meeting yet, so we'll arrest him when he comes out."

"Wait, why's he meeting with them?!" Misato yelled.

"They wished to talk to him privately," Fuyutsuki answered "They are probably on to him, as well. This is the second time they've spoken to him privately since his arrival."

"If they suspect him, then we've got everything in the bag."

"Indeed, Major," Gendo said, nodding "Get the security forces ready for capture."

Misato saluted, and turned out the door to carry out her orders. Finally, Eggman was going to get what was coming to him.

**Earlier, Committee Meeting Room**

"Welcome back, Dr. Eggman," the cyborg committee head, Keel Lorenz, said in greeting as he and his four comrades appeared as colored holograms in the room, in front of their audience, Eggman.

"Thank you, Herr Lorenz," Eggman replied with a polite bow.

"You know why you're here, do you not?" asked the other mustached and bespectacled man in the room other than Eggman, bathed in green light.

"I certainly would hope so, Mr. Cassin."

"Yes, we are here to talk about Ikari," the muscular man bathed in red light responded "Is that what you were thinking?"

"Of course! Ohohohoho! So, do you believe what I've said before?"

"It would seem we have no choice but to believe you, Doctor," Keel replied "The evidence you have provided has been… interesting. To think, you have come from another world, just to make sure our plans are realized in full. Your knowledge about us is very, very convincing. But on to the matter at hand…"

"Ikari's eventual betrayal," said the long-nosed man with glasses, bathed in yellow.

"That will set us back and utterly foil our plans of godhood as one being," said the red man "And we can't very bloody well have that."

"Indeed not," Keel continued "After consideration and discussion between all of our society, we believe you. Ikari will betray us, and everything we have dreamed of will fall, unless we take action. We will have to trust the destruction of the Angels to someone who we hope will be more trustworthy overall."

"Yes, we must thank you for all the valuable information you have provided," Yellow said, with a nod.

"Well, I suppose that ends the meeting, then," Eggman said "I will be on my way now."

"The meeting ends when we say it ends, Doctor," Keel said with a glower, as best as a person with a visor over his eyes could muster "So, we have heard that the… blue creature has been taken to NERV headquarters."

"Yes, Herr Lorenz. It will only be a matter of time before he wakes up and begins his mission to disrupt my, no, excuse me, our efforts. I doubt I can keep the façade of him being an Angel for much longer. And then, I will be in trouble at NERV."

"We will have to make sure your position within NERV can be kept," the blue man finally spoke out "After all, we are the real leaders of it, no matter what Ikari believes he can do to usurp us. And we need you to stay at NERV for at least a bit longer."

"In fact," Red began "We have already made the preparations to keep you within NERV no matter the upcoming outcome. We hope it will be sufficient."

It was then, a couple of papers emerged from the fax machine seated near Eggman's chair, which he quickly scooped up and looked over, before grinning broadly.

"Thank you. You won't regret this."

"We should hope not, Doctor," Mr. Cassin said, matter of factly.

"Also," Blue said "Have our funds and materials been sufficient for you?"

"Yes, Mr. Kovanovich," Eggman said "The construction is going well so far, but it will still take some time before **it **is complete. I would have it built faster, but I know your supplies are limited enough with your own projects and NERV to deal with. Speaking of your projects, has EVA-04's construction being taken care of with the preventive measures I suggested?"

"Yes, of course," Cassin replied with a nod "Hopefully the incident you say that will occur will not happen now."

"That will be all for now, Eggman," Keel said "Good luck, SEELE is behind you one hundred percent. I do hope that it will stay that way. Do not think of betraying us."

And with that, the holograms vanished, one by one.

"Don't worry, Herr Lorenz, I won't," Eggman said, before adding on, in his mind "…_Yet."_

And with that, he exited the meeting room and headed out, to be met with a horde of NERV officers, guns pointed at him. He chuckled, raising his hands, the papers still clutched within one. It was a few moments before Misato arrived and looked at Eggman with a condescending glare.

"Jig's up, Eggman," she said menacingly "Your plot is over. Sonic has informed us of your true intentions. Time to go. I'm going to make sure your cell's nice and cramped."

"Well, it seems I've been caught," Eggman said, amused.

"What's so amusing? It's over!"

"Oh ho ho ho. Is it? If you say so," Eggman said, grinning slyly.

"As does Commander Ikari," Misato sneered "Now, wipe that smile off of your face and come with us."

"Oh, I don't know if even Ikari will be able to get rid of me. Take the papers from my hand, if you please. You'll find them very interesting."

Misato growled, snatching the papers from his hand, before looking them over, before paling, and then going red with anger.

"I don't believe this. Everyone, stand down… The good doctor here… He's just been granted immunity. We can't touch him."

The guards sighed, before putting down their guns and walking away.

"Too bad, Major, but I get to stay here for now," Eggman chuckled.

"This isn't over, Eggman. Not by a long shot. I won't allow you to continue this. Neither will Sonic, or anyone else here. And don't think diplomatic immunity is going to help you."

"We'll see, major, we'll see."

With that, Misato stormed off, leaving Eggman to be proud of himself. For now, he had won.

He, however didn't notice the blonde in the lab coat heading towards him from the side…

**To be Continued**

**Author's Notes**

Woohoo, another chapter finished! And it only took me a month and a half this time. Yes, things have just gotten even more complicated. A bit more drama ensues, and new things are revealed. Who knows what'll happen next? Oh yeah, it's me. I know. Just you wait, readers.

By the by, to those who have noticed Flame Rising's review, please don't worry about it, I've taken it and its source in good humor. Anyway, that's all for now.


	8. New Home

**Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis**

**Chapter 7: New Home**

There was Eggman, standing with some papers in his hand, standing tall and proud, victorious. Not only had he managed to trick the Old Men, but he had gained immunity against one of the larger threats against his plans and had riled up Major Katsuragi in the process. Things were great.

Well, until Ritsuko Akagi's fist made contact with his jaw, and he bent to the side with a grunt, papers in hand flying into the air from the force of the impact.

"YOU," she hissed "You have a LOT of explaining to do, Doctor… If you even are one!"

"So," he groaned in response "I take it the hedgehog said a few things about me, none of them too good, by your reaction, Ritsuko."

"Until I tell you otherwise, Ivo, you will be calling me 'Dr. Akagi' from now on. Is that clear?"

"Crystal," he responded with a wince, bending over to collect the papers she had made him drop.

"I'll let you think about how you're going to explain things, for now," she growled, rubbing her hand "I will be seeing you in our, no, MY office in a little bit. And don't think about not showing up, or there will be hell to pay. Understood?"

"Yes, Dr. Akagi," Eggman replied, as she put her hands in her coat pockets and sulked off to her office. When she was out of his line of sight, he sighed and rubbed his sore jaw. "_Damn, that woman can hit. How am I going to explain? But I can't bail out, I wouldn't doubt she'd carry out her threat… There's got to be some way to reverse this little setback… Hmm."_

And so, he began to think…

**Commander Ikari's Office**

"The Old Men gave Eggman **what?" **was all Fuyutsuki could muster, surprised.

"Full diplomatic immunity," Misato replied, her voice with a hint of irritation "Until it's said otherwise, he's pretty much untouchable, Commanders. Maybe you could do something about it?"

Gendo's calm face and tone of voice belied his utter fury at this new development.

"To say I wasn't expecting this would be a lie," he said "Seems I overestimated the Old Men this time. I was assured that they wouldn't take his side, but I knew there was the possibility of error. How a conman like him could accomplish something like this is very, very unfortunate."

"How can you be so calm at a time like this?!" Misato growled.

"Trust me, Major, I'm not as calm about this as I look. But this isn't the time, nor the place for such things."

"_Like hell it's not, Commander. _Still, how was he able to get the Old Men to give him immunity? It's outrageous!"

"The committee are firm believers in their own ideals," Fuyutsuki sighed "Somehow, the doctor probably managed to make them buy into his little illusion. One possibility is, that with that knowledge he seems to have, they see him as a sort of prophet or oracle."

"Well, then," Misato began "Guess we'll have to reveal to them just how false he is. The question is, how?"

"Quite simple, Major," Gendo said "We continue to play his game. Before, we didn't have the piece we needed to move on within it. But now, we have… the creature. If he is what he claims to be, then he could prove to be very useful in gaining the upper hand."

"You can't be serious, Commander. I'm sick and tired of having to use people as tools, whether human beings, or like Sonic! You may be able to do that without batting an eye, but I can't. And, what if we're wrong? What if this ends in disaster?"

"Currently, Major, are there any other options available, that you can think of?" Kozo asked her.

Misato stood there for a moment, thinking, before sighing and lowering her head.

"No. Nothing's coming to my mind right now. Currently, we don't really have any other choice… and if we don't do anything, then we've already lost."

"Well, then, Major Katsuragi, the choice is clear," Gendo retorted "The creature will be used to help us end this little game. And, I am making the creature your responsibility, as well. Can you handle that, Major?"

This was met with a moment of dead silence, before Misato simply responded, "Fine. _Great, Asuka's right. I am taking in every little stray I can find… I'll just have to deal with it… besides, this could actually be pretty interesting. Yes. Take it nice and optimistic, Misato."_

"Well, then. What is the first order of business, Major?"

"More testing?" she replied.

"Yes," Gendo said "The scientific testing to find out what the creature is has been… mostly… finished. Running compatibility and ability tests would be the next logical step. If the creature can pilot, then so be it. If not, then we can surely find something else he could do, considering what has already been reported about him. When can you start?"

"Tomorrow, Commander. Best to give Sonic some breathing room for today. I think he'd appreciate it."

"Very well."

With that, Misato gave a salute and walked out of the office.

"Are you sure about this, Ikari?" Kozo asked when she was out of earshot.

The only response Gendo gave was a smirk that could cut glass.

**NERV Science Department - Ritsuko Akagi's Office**

Ritsuko sighed, crushing another cigarette in her ashtray before taking a gulp of lukewarm coffee. Eggman had better have a good explanation for all of this. Her hand was still sore from the punch she gave him. She could hit, but he was certainly sturdy. What lies had he told her? What were his reasons for using her? Who, or perhaps what, was he, really? And soon, she would get some answers, as the rotund doctor entered her office, mustache drooped, his head lowered.

"There you are, Ivo," Ritsuko grumbled, lighting up "Don't even bother to sit down. Begin talking."

"I, er, uh, well, you see, Dr. Akagi," Eggman mumbled, "I am… well, you see…"

"What? You're a fake? A liar? A con artist? You've been using NERV, and me for your own personal gain?"

"I…"

"Out with it," she said with a glare, taking a drag.

"Dr. Akagi," Eggman said, calming himself finally "I am a scientist acknowledged in several fields of expertise, as I told you when we first met. That, was the truth. My grandfather and father were both scientists of extraordinary caliber, that was true. But scientific expertise and family occupation aside… I am a conman and a megalomaniac. I did come to NERV with the intent to use it in my newest set of plans."

Ritsuko was silent for a moment, before responding, "So, then what Sonic said was true. You are after power and the world, then. I trusted you, and you have totally let me down. Do you know how hurt I am? A person who I considered a colleague and a friend, turning out to be a greedy, power-hungry, lying madman?"

"I can tell, Dr. Akagi. I can tell you are deeply angry and hurt by discovering the truth. Especially the way you did, being told by, being told by HIM. I wish he had been destroyed, I wish he hadn't come after me at all. He is here to stop me, to take me down."

"Well, then, get out of my office. Don't show your face here again. And as for your immunity, don't bother. Resign from NERV, and just, just go away."

"Wait, please, Dr. Akagi," Eggman begged, a plan formulating in his head "I have a little more to say. Please, please just hear me out, before you really mean those words."

She was silent for a moment, staring at him with intense, angry green eyes, before sipping her coffee.

"Fine," she sighed "But make it quick. And then take your leave."

"My original intent was to come down here to NERV to steal the Evas, and get my hands on any of the other advancements here. I'd use information about the Angels to convince NERV that I was an asset to it, before robbing it blind and then using everything to make the world mine."

"Original intent? Meaning?"

"Meaning, that was what I intended to do when I first arrived. But, then, when I came here… To actually work here at NERV, that completely changed everything. It was then, I discovered the real meaning of working here. My plans began to fade as I realized, I actually realized… That here, I was making a difference in the world, and without needing to take it over. I actually began to believe in the cause that NERV represents."

Ritsuko looked at him with an incredulous gaze, blinking, her mouth and mole twitching in thought, before taking another gulp of coffee.

"Are you serious?" she inquired "Or are you just playing a con again?"

"I'm serious," came the response "I want to help defeat the Angels and make the world safe for humankind, and make my mark on the world that way, rather than making my mark as a conqueror. But, most of all, in coming here… I met one of the only people of whom I could consider an intellectual equal. Your vast knowledge… It's an inspiration. I've never been so interested in an individual before. You're someone I can call a colleague. A friend. And I feel terrible about not telling you the truth. But that doesn't matter now."

Ritsuko was dead silent now, her face a complete blank.

"But it's too late for all that now," Eggman continued, smiling momentarily, before frowning, his mustache once again drooping "So, I'll be on my way. It was nice working with you, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi. Farewell…"

And it was with that, he turned around, and began heading out the door, only to be stopped by Ritsuko.

"Wait," she said.

"What?" he asked, not bothering to look at her face to face.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, Ivo. But they do say that the truth will set you free."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning, sit your ass down. This whole fiasco has made the work pile up around here. I can't expect Maya to do it all, can I? So get to work, Doctor, there's no excuse to dawdle."

"You forgive me?" he asked her, blinking.

"For the most part," she said "Just don't make me regret it, Ivo."

"As you wish, Dr. Akagi," Eggman said with a nod.

"Hey, we're colleagues. Ritsuko will do."

It was with that, Eggman and Ritsuko got back to work, as if nothing had happened on that day. The brown eyes watching from a side room ducked back behind the door, and blinked for several moments, before gaining an irritated squint.

Lieutenant Maya Ibuki hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but she heard everything from her vantage point behind the door. Not only had that bastard gained immunity, but it would seem he had gotten Ritsuko to forgive him. This wouldn't stand at all. But, with the immunity, she couldn't do anything against him, just yet…

**Somewhere Else in NERV HQ**

Misato had been looking around for at least twenty minutes now, and could find no trace of Sonic so far. She knew the last place he had been was the interrogation room, but he had long since gone. Figures someone of his size would be hard to find in this place. The Commander would have her head if she had lost him. Still without results, she decided to check up on Shinji and Asuka before searching once again. Usually, they would go to the employee lounge to wait on her when they didn't have anything to do during the time they were there.

When she arrived in the lounge, she noticed a bunch of the staff was huddled around one of the spots in the lounge, and she could have sworn she saw the Children within the crowd, and looked over. Certainly enough, there were Shinji and Asuka, and Rei, even, and they were watching a certain blue figure wolfing down food at a rapid pace, the crowd oohing and ahhing , transfixed.

"What in the hell?" Misato said, squinting, before looking at Asuka.

"There you are, Misato!" Asuka called "Been wondering how long that business was taking! You're missing the fun! Sonic's already eaten five normal meals and is still going!"

"He is quite fast," Rei commented "I am… almost in a trance watching."

"And before that, he did some backflips and laps around the lounge!" shouted one of the various employees.

"This is so cool!" said another, as Sonic went on to a seventh meal.

Misato sighed, giving the crowd a funny look, before giving up and enjoying the show.

Sonic had called it quits after nine and a half meals and was now rubbing his belly, full and satisfied.

"Delicious!" he exclaimed with a grin "Wasn't that something, Misato?"

"Yeah, suppose it was," she replied "I do have some news for you, that affects you, and Shinji, and Asuka here."

"What's the news, Misato?" Shinji inquired.

"Yeah, tell us, tell us!" Asuka chirped.

"I've spoken with Commander Ikari," she said "Sonic is under my care as of this moment. We have decided that Sonic here is not a threat, but will have to be cared for and watched over. He has ordered me to do so, but I don't really mind. The question is, do any of you mind?"

"N-n-not really," Shinji said.

"See, what did I tell you, Misato?" Asuka gloated "I knew you were gonna bring him in! And no, I don't mind, as long as he stays out of my room!"

"Well, Sonic?" Misato inquired, the Children looking at the hedgehog.

"Well, Misato, the truth is, I really don't like being tied down anywhere for too long unless I absolutely have to," Sonic said "I don't really like just sitting around, doing nothing. What about Eggman, though?"

"He's still going to be working here. He got himself diplomatic immunity, so we can't get rid of him unless he leaves, himself. Which is the reason why NERV wants to keep you around, why they're putting you in my care."

Sonic looked surprised, irritated, thoughtful, blank, calm, and thoughtful again, before replying.

"Okay," he said "But as long as I do get to get out and get some fresh air and wander the city. I can handle people staring or being afraid. As long as Eggman continues working here, I'll be here. Anything else?"

"Yes, actually," Misato answered "We'll be performing tests and such on you starting tomorrow. If you're going to be staying here with NERV to watch over Eggman, it would seem best that you work as a part of NERV."

Sonic simply nodded, and replied, "So, when do we leave?"

"Now, if that's possible"

The Children nodded to Misato.

"Let's go, Sonic!" Asuka cheered "I don't really like living with these two, but you may just make things actually fun. This is going to be great!"

"It'll be nice having you around," Shinji said with a small smile.

"I certainly hope we can become good friends," Sonic said "Let's get going!"

The Children and Misato nodded, and they were off.

Rather than Sonic riding in Misato's car with the others, he ran alongside the car, as Shinji and Asuka watched him, Shinji simply in awe, Asuka cheering the blue speedster along as he performed tricks and feats of daring through his run.

And eventually, they reached the apartment building, and soon Misato's apartment.

"Did you SEE that?!" Asuka exclaimed "That was awesome!"

"I aim to please, Asuka," Sonic said.

"Showoff," Misato chuckled.

"Yeah, that was fun…" Shinji said, trailing off.

"So, this is where we live! What do you think, Sonic?"

"Pretty nice place you've got here, Misato," Sonic replied "Spacious, goes outside to a nice balcony, and it's nice and clean. I won't mind living here at all!"

"It's only nice and clean because I and Shinji keep the place clean!" Asuka said with a laugh "If it weren't for us, this place would be a total mess!"

"That true?"

Shinji nodded sheepishly in response, Misato scoffing at the remarks and reaching into the refrigerator, trying to decide between a beer or some canned coffee. Asuka showed Sonic around the house, making sure to emphasize her room was off limits to him without her permission, while Shinji had no objections to him being in his room whenever. Sonic could only nod in agreement, and when the tour ended, he noticed the second refrigerator.

"What's that one for?" Sonic asked curiously.

"Pen-Pen," all three answered simultaneously, Asuka saying the name with a twitch of irritation.

"Oh, you have another animal living in your house? Not that I'm just another animal."

"Neither is Pen-Pen," Misato said "He's rather intelligent. He's a penguin, by the way."

"Oh, really? I used to have a friend or two that were penguins."

The three blinked, confused, before shrugging it off.

No sooner did they do so, the penguin popped out of his refrigerated environment, flapping his wings and looking around, to notice Sonic, before waddling up to him and sniffing him.

"_And who might you be?"_ the penguin inquired, Sonic the only one actually understanding him as if he was actually talking "_Some kind of blue shark? Because I don't really like sharks. But, no, you smell like a mammal. Strange. But good to meet you."_

"Good to meet you, too!" Sonic said with a smile "I'm Sonic."

The three humans blinked.

"You can speak to animals?" Shinji asked, curious.

"That I can. I have this ability where I can speak to and understand something that doesn't seem normally sentient. Guess it's a part of my animal genes."

"Cool!"

"_I really like Shinji,"_ Pen-Pen communicated to Sonic "_He's a pretty nice kid. Little quiet and slow on the uptake sometimes, though. Misato, well, she saved me from becoming a lab experiment for the rest of my life, so I owe her. But her cooking SUCKS. And Asuka… or should I say the Red Devil, well, we don't exactly get along, usually. Though, she is a hottie, for being 14 in human years._

Sonic couldn't help but snicker at that.

"What are you snickering about?!" Asuka growled "What did he say about me?!"

"Nothing important, Asuka," Sonic answered, before chuckling again, Asuka rolling her eyes and turning to watch TV.

And on that note, the day soon waned, and night fell upon Tokyo-3, the three humans heading off to their respective, individual rooms after some conversation and a nice dinner cooked by Shinji. Ironically enough, Sonic wound up sleeping in Asuka's room after all, but he didn't sleep long, before he got up and headed outside to the balcony, to look at the stars.

"_Well, they're all asleep, and here I am, up and awake," _Sonic thought to himself "_First time I've been on this world in a long time where things turned out to be an interesting experience. And I mean interesting-fun, not interesting-crazy… Those kids are so nice, and Misato, she's pretty cool, too, even if her cooking's supposed to be terrible. I wonder what my other friends are doing. Has any time passed at home? Do they wonder where I am? Do they miss me? I miss them…But I'm stuck here until I get Eggman out of here and back home. Still, things have been quite interesting. I wonder what else this place has in store for me… Don't worry, mom, I'll make sure that everything's set straight. I always do._

He sighed, looking at his hands, and then the night sky again for a few more moments before heading back inside to get back to sleep. For the time being, this place, it was home.

**Nevada NERV Base**

All the preparations were set, the Eggman-suggested precautionary measures put in place as the workers continued their work on a hulking, silver-armored figure within the base. Things were all complete, and now the only thing left to do was install the final component, a component that would allow the beast they were creating to run on unlimited power.

The S2 Engine taken from the Fourth Angel, was the component in question. The installation was proceeding as scheduled, the organ being implanted through its throat and into its body cavity. With the precautionary measures set, the cataclysm that would involve the whole base vanish from existence would be completely avoided and EVA-04 would be a viable tool to NERV, as were its brethren. Unfortunately, things wouldn't quite work out that way, as a strange energy reaction was suddenly detected during the final stages of implantation, despite all the precautions they took. Eggman's precautions had failed, just as he planned.

But instead of a disaster causing an erasure of the whole base, there was a bright flash of light as the Eva itself seemed to warp out of existence, leaving the creators stumped. The base was unharmed, but the Eva itself was completely gone. So the precaution had at least sort of worked, but there would still be many questions about the Eva's disappearance.

**Elsewhere…**

It was a nice, breezy day over what remains of the state of New Mexico, with clouds lovely and fluffy. The world here was finally recovering from the Second Impact, and its sparse, remaining residents were happy. The clouds passed over a mountain's peak, just a little too high up to touch anything.

But, as beautiful as it was, someone was unhappy with the cloud's miss. How could anyone not think it was an interesting sight to see?

But indeed, someone was unhappy that the clouds missed hitting the mountain, anyway, for one reason… he needed the clouds to continue his journey. He had a mission, and not being picked up by the clouds wasn't helping matters.

And so, the one the Scrolls referred to as Bardiel cursed the missed chance to continue his travel. He had to get to his mother… And then, Lilith's children would be no more. He couldn't wait.

**To be Continued…**

**A/N**

Holy crap! I wrote this chapter and the last one within two days of each other! The inspiration's just flowing within me. But, yes, the fun continues! Eggman, you shrewd, shrewd SOB. And Sonic begins to live with Misato, heheh. Next up… well, you'll just have to take a guess!


	9. Prelude to a Crisis

****

Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis

Chapter Eight: Prelude to a Crisis

Several days would pass after Sonic the Hedgehog was put into the custody of Major Misato Katsuragi along with her two wards and her pet warm water penguin, days that seemed like any other span of normal, incident-free times for the city of Tokyo-3 and its guardian organization.

Behind the scenes, however, things were not all sunshine and lollipops. Sonic's arrival had once again changed the entire chain of events that would have lead to the conclusion… Eggman knew when the Angels would attack next, and how they would do it, that had happened before Sonic's arrival. Distrust towards the doctor had only grown from Sonic's presence, despite SEELE backing the round doctor up with their immunity contract.

Because of this, Eggman was supposed to be an enemy of NERV, but with SEELE manipulating the situation, he was an enemy that was to be listened to and respected. He continued his claims of having a change of heart, which he had originally conveyed to Ritsuko but now told the rest of the staff, or at least those strongly distrustful of him, only wanting to help NERV achieve its goals of bringing an end to the Angelic threat.

Most of them still did not take to believing or trusting him on his word, especially where Misato and Maya were concerned. Gendo and Fuyutsuki, despite trying to keep the façade of being trustful of the Doctor, continued to try and find a way to end the charade, while playing Eggman's game with their own, unaware that he had gained knowledge of just what they were really up to, was not mentioning or holding it over their heads for blackmail purposes. Why was this?

Ritsuko still had her doubts, but once again, she was falling back into a complacent state as far as he was concerned, as Eggman, if he was hiding another agenda, was not showing signs of it at all. Maya still tried to discourage her from trusting him too much, but her pleas were beginning to fall on deaf ears. Maya knew damned well this was one of her superior's flaws, the same thing had happened with Ritsuko and Commander Ikari. Maya could hide her reservations on the Commander, but Eggman was a sore subject.

If this continued, she thought, it would mean the end of everything. She had to find a way to end his catastrophe before it was too late. But what extremes would she wind up taking this to, and at what cost? What did the future hold if she succeeded… or failed? To take a chance, be unsuccessful, and be figuratively crucified; or do nothing and watch everything crumble? Of course, taking action may be the only way to solve this problem. She knew she had to do something, but what?

Yawning and shaking herself out of her current train of thought, Maya pulled herself out of the chair she had slept in for two days in a row, groggily looking at the notes on their current project: hers, Ritsuko's, and, shudder at the thought, Eggman's, although she was very grateful he wasn't very interested in it, or at least it seemed. Just another day or so, things would finally be completed. Finally, something that walrus-esque charlatan wasn't really butting into.

And she jumped suddenly, as someone entered the room, she looked over, half-expecting Eggman to be the one to show up, but, no, it was Dr. Akagi, a development which made her smile a little.

"Smiling for once, Maya?" she asked, looking at her protégé, in relief "I haven't really seen you smile since you first met Ivo. After that, your entire attitude had changed."

"Can you blame me, sempai?" she replied with a frown "I keep telling you, that man is up to no good. I thought I had gotten you to see things differently when that information came out. You were almost over with him, but now, you're acting like nothing ever happened."

"That's not true at all," Ritsuko said with a sigh "I'm keeping a close eye on him. Just because I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt doesn't mean I'm not keeping my wits sharp. Look, I know you have your issues with him, and you know I respect your opinion, but you're taking things a little too hard. There's a difference between simply being careful, and being outright paranoid."

"Is that what you think? That I'm paranoid?! Maybe I am, a little, but I am not the sort to completely give into such a thing! I'm just being careful. Eggman is a shady character. You know that, I know that, a lot of people know that. Look, sempai. He is bad, bad, **bad** news."

"I'm just saying this issue with him is interfering in your job performance," Ritsuko responded curtly "I'm afraid that you might do something dangerous."

"Damn it, Dr. Akagi!" Maya snapped at her, the fact she wasn't addressing her as usual showing that she was quite irate at the moment "This is just going to continue until he does something **really **extreme! And then, when that happens, what will you say about this? What will you do?"

"Then, Maya, I will concur. But while you think you're taking precautions, what if he doesn't pull anything? You'll have wasted a lot of your time doing something unnecessary. We can't be too careful."

"And we shouldn't be too careless, either," Maya hissed "This… this is just like--"

"Just like what?" Ritsuko asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I… uh… n-never mind. Let's stop arguing. I really want to get this project finished, sempai."

"Yes. This project will be an important, but hopefully unneeded backup… but, in the off-chance it is needed, it will be ready for use."

Maya was tempted to use this to bring up dealing with Eggman again, but thinking better of it, simply nodded in response.

"So, let's get the Dummy System completed and ready for use at a moment's notice."

"Yes, sempai. Let's do that."

And so, they got back to work, not knowing just what their little project was going to bring in the future.

Meanwhile, in another part of the base, the rest of the scientific division was working on testing Sonic while Ritsuko and Maya worked on the secret project. So far, more tests and samples revealed what they already knew… Sonic's structure was like most other organic creatures at a glance, yet still unreadable, all results coming to 0 similarity to anything. What was the meaning of it?

"How much more poking are you guys planning to do to me, anyway?" the hedgehog asked, growing quite impatient and irritated at the repetition of their poking and prodding.

"We apologize, Mr. Hedgehog-thing Sir," one of the scientists responded, a thin, aging man with silvery hair down to his shoulders, but with a balding forehead and wrinkles, although few, that didn't belie his age in the least "It's just that your structure is… a mystery even with our advanced methods. We really do want to get on to the next set of tests for you. No more samples off of your person with those."

Sonic sighed. These guys were obviously smart, a least as smart as Eggman, but this repetition of inconclusive results were completely stumping these guys. And then, he thought of something.

"Could it be you're getting these results because I'm not from here, Dr…?" he asked.

"It's Suzuhara," the doctor answered "Dr. Hajime Suzuhara. And, what do you mean, Mr. Hedgehog?"

"What I mean is, Dr. Suzuhara, that, I'm not from this world. Eggman and I came here because he was able to create a device send other things to a differing plane. And it just happened to be this one that we wound up on. Speaking of which, have you ever…"

Hajime's eybrow furrowed for a moment, before the proverbial lightbulb went off in his head.

"Tested Eggman? Why, no. We've never had any real reason to, even after you came here… Why didn't I think of that?"

"It just wasn't obvious, I guess?" Sonic said with a shrug.

"I suppose that's true," Hajime said, before turning to the other scientists "My dear colleagues… this zero percent thing might have something to do with him not being from this plane. He said Dr. Eggman came from the same place he did, so if we tested him and got the same results--"

"I have a couple hairs from his mustache!" one of the scientists chimed in "We could test those!"

"Very well, then!" Hajime exclaimed with a nod "Get to work! As for you, Mr. Hedgehog, we want to analyze your abilities. Being able to go at the speed of sound and over shouldn't be possible, but you're able to do it. Since some of us need to concentrate on Eggman, we may as well get you to the next part of your tests."

"Finally, some fun stuff!" Sonic said with a grin, hopping off the examination table "Let's juice! Uh, hey, Dr. Suzuhara?"

"Hm?"

"I know it could be a little farfetched, but I could swear I've heard your surname somewhere else before… I think Shinji had a friend with that last name. Toji?"

"Toji?" Hajime responded, seemingly familiar with it "Yes, I know Toji. He's my grandson. Really athletic kid… he didn't get much of the smart genes of the family, though he's no idiot, for the most part, anyway. My granddaughter, his sister, though… So much like her father. And he had the smart genes, let me tell ya. Toji's more like his mother, I suppose, though Reimu was interested in the sciences, my son completed her and offset her more 'normal' intelligence. But normal intelligence is by no means a bad thing."

Sonic gave Hajime a nod in response, before responding.

"Speaking of moms, I've noticed something about the kids I've met here… they don't seem to have mothers. Why?"

"Uh…" was all Hajime could mutter, seemingly struck silent by the question "Well… it… it's not really important. May we get to doing those tests?"

"Oh, yeah, sure. Never mind, I was just curious, anyway. Let's go."

Speaking of Hajime's grandson, Toji was currently sitting at his desk keeping his eye on the freckled and pigtailed Class Representative, Hikari Horaki, while their old teacher rambled on. While they had had their clashes with their differing personalities, he had become increasingly fond of the girl, and maybe, just maybe she was fond of him somewhat?

Suddenly, a hand waved in front of the boy's face, to which his square-ish head twitched, his strong, track suit jacket clad arm quickly smacking it away, Toji letting out a simple, irritated grunt.

"Jeez, Toji, you've been staring at the Class Rep for, like, five minutes now!" the owner of the hand said with a laugh. "You in love or something?! Seriously, dude."

"Oh, shaddap, Kensuke," Toji grumbled "Can't a guy look at a girl without somebody thinkin' he's in love?"

Kensuke laughed, adjusting his glasses, before turning his attention to one of the adjacent desks, where none other than Shinji Ikari sat.

"Am I just imagining things, Shinji, or is Toji totally in love with the Class Rep?"

"Huh?" Shinji responded, totally clueless as to what was going on.

"Oi, Shinji, are you even paying attention?!" Kensuke stammered "Toji's totally looking at Miss Horaki like some lovesick puppy!"

"He is?"

"**Yes!**" Kensuke exclaimed, disrupting the whole class, except for the teacher, who just continued to drone on.

"Mr. Aida!" Hikari yelled "Be quiet, class is still going! Really, now!"

"What did you expect, Hikari?" said a voice from a desk adjacent to hers, the voice belonging to none other than the fiery, red-headed Asuka Langley Soryu "He's a Stooge. That's what those idiots do! Be disruptive, loud and dumb!"

"Now, who's the one yelling, huh?" Kensuke said, glaring in Asuka's direction "And we do NOT do that… all the time."

Toji couldn't help but smile, even though she meant him, too, while Shinji let out a sigh.

"Can't this wait until class ends, guys?" Hikari grumbled, turning back to looking at the teacher, but gave Toji a glance, smiling momentarily, in the blink of an eye.

There were no more immediate disruptions after that, although Toji did do some more staring, while Kensuke gave some whispered teasing.

Eventually, the bell rang, and the students began to get up and leave. Well, most of them, anyway. Shinji, Toji, and Kensuke, or the "Three Stooges", as Asuka called them sat and talked for a few more moments, while the two girls headed out into the hall.

"You're totally in love with the Class Rep, Toji," Kensuke snickered, pushing his glasses back up his nose "Really, all that staring isn't normal."

"What's it to ya if I am, anyway, Kensuke?" Toji huffed "I've been talking to her lately, she's a lot nicer than she seems, nowhere near as much of a super bitch as I used to think. Now, the Red Devil, there's a bitch! Right, Shinji?"

Shinji simply lowered his head, sighing. Yeah, she could be mean, though he still remembered the kissing incident that had taken place about a month or so before, then again, she did say she just wanted to do it because she was bored. She could be nice, though, still. His gaze averted to the corner, to look at one of the desks by the windows, where one Rei Ayanami sat, looking out the window, a daily and regular activity of hers, it seemed. He thought of going to speak with her, but she got up just a second after that, heading out the door, but slightly nodding to Shinji as she left.

"You know Shinji, Toji, he's not gonna answer something like that," Kensuke stated matter of factly "Yeah, it's annoying, but, well, it's Shinji, am I right?"

"Yeah, yeah, I know it's true," Toji sighed "But doesn't hurt to ask."

"Suppose not. So, Shinji, think I can get a glimpse at that blue blur today?! Miss Misato's really anal about letting us see him, but, damn it, I want to get him on tape! He's too fast to catch when he's running. Hell, Hikari got to see him, thanks to the Red Devil. Hey, maybe she'll be out today and we can sneak in! Whaddya say?"

Shinji stammered for a moment, before sighing and lowering is head, and responding.

"He's supposed to be getting tested today til the evening, so p-probably not. Even if you did get in, he wouldn't be around."

"Nuts. Well, guess we'd better get walking home, then."

"I agree," Toji said, getting up and gathering his things.

And so, the trio went on their merry way towards Misato's apartment.

Meanwhile, the Major was at her desk, looking over the papers detailing the disappearance of Eva-04. Eggman had predicted that the entire base would have been erased from existence, but his preventive measures would prevent it. That, they did. But the Eva, it still vanished. SEELE and Nerv's American branch were understandably livid, though SEELE seemed to not be directing their ire to Eggman, though she felt that they should.

Not only that, but rumors were spreading that the American branch was planning on bringing Eva-03 to Japan because of the aforementioned incident, despite the fact the base in Nevada was still intact. These rumors included the shutdown of that very facility.

__

"So, they might be bringing Eva-03 over here because of what happened to Eva-04," she thought to herself, sighing outwardly _"That would mean the Marduk Institute will be looking for the Fourth Child soon enough… But, they may already have their candidate, or at least they might if his tests say he can do it… But… A non-human pilot? That's still far too much!"_

Looking over the paperwork one more time, she stood up to go check on Sonic and see how his tests were going, running into Ritsuko and Maya in the hallway, the both of them looking quite tired and formerly busy.

"Still working on that top-secret project, you two?" she asked.

"Yes, Major Katsuragi," Maya answered "It… it's almost done. One or two more days of work, and it'll be finished."

"What are you two making, anyway?"

"Can't say, Misato," Ritsuko said, looking at Misato sternly "Just know that it will be a helpful tool if an emergency arises… but we'll hopefully never have to use it. It's something like that."

"I don't like the sound of that. Oh well. So, where's Fatso? I haven't seen him since yesterday…"

"Oh, he's working on the Collaborations' control system, making sure it's up to date and all that. He should have a status report soon. So, you going to see Sonic? He should be with Hajime right now. I hear they're going to be analyzing his abilities… You know, his spinning attack and his running and how he does it without being killed? After those tests, we'll be preparing to see if he can pilot."

"Damn it, are you sure that's wise?" Misato grumbled "With that zero percent thing and all, he's probably completely incompatible. Are we really planning on making him the Fourth Child?!"

Ritsuko looked at Misato, in a strongly disguised incredulous manner, before responding.

"I can't say. Only the Marduk Institute can decide that."

"I see. That doesn't help much, but it gives me just a little bit of comfort, for the time being, at least."

"Good."

"S-sempai?" Maya interrupted.

"Yes, Maya?"

"I'm going to go to the ladies' room and then do a couple of checks on the Project. I'll meet up with you after I do that, okay?"

"Alright. Just don't take too long."

Maya nodded, quickly running off.

"Shall we get going, Ritsu?" Misato asked.

"Yes, let's," she replied "I want to see how these tests go for myself."

Misato nodded, and the two were off.

In the meantime, Maya continued on, and when the other two women were out of sight, passed straight by the bathrooms, instead taking her ID card out of her pocket and went down a couple of shady corridors to a lone elevator door, which had a sign signifying it was broken in front of it, but swiped her keycard anyway, punching in numbers. There was a click, and the doors slid open, the female Lieutenant stepping inside, the doors then closing again, before it began to go down… and go down deep.

Maya sighed, looking at the floor.

__

"Forgive me for what I'm about to do, sempai, but this has to be done. Eggman must be stopped before he does any long-lasting damage."

In the meantime, Ritsuko and Misato had made it to where they were conducting the next battery of tests on Sonic, and were waved over by Dr. Hajime Suzuhara himself.

"Hajime."

"Ritsuko."

__

"So this guy's that Toji kid's grandfather, huh?" Misato said to herself as the two scientists gave each other their greetings _"Certainly doesn't seem like they're related, but hey, life's full of surprises."_

"So, Hajime," Ritsuko said "This is Major Misato Katsuragi, my old college buddy, friend, and coworker."

"Pleased to meet you, Major," Hajime said, bowing.

Misato responded in kind.

"Likewise. So, Dr. Suzuhara, what's about to happen?"

"Sonic's going to show us his spin attacks, first off. Basically, he spins fast enough to be like a wrecking ball and a saw at the same time, though he can add force and pressure, or modify the speed of the spin to modify severity. This should be impossible, but he can do it, so… Mr. Hedgehog! Are you ready?"

Sonic dignified the response with a nod, and after doing a few stretches, got into position.

"Go!" Hajime exclaimed.

It started out pretty normally, him curling into a ball like most hedgehogs, though wound a bit more tightly. Instruments and scanners were planted all over the testing area to read what was to happen. And then, Sonic, with an odd, whirring, screeching noise, vaulted forward, spinning along the ground and up to a half-pipe built into the wall, going right up it without much struggle.

"Hmm, interesting, interesting," Hajime said, rubbing his chin "There seems to be a slight distortion around his body as he does this, it's as if it's powering kinetic energy into him and propelling him into his spin…"

Misato squinted, and sure enough, she did notice a slight distortion, glowing somewhat.

Sonic burst up the half-pipe before vaulting right off it, using his momentum to soar high into the air, along with a noticeable burst of energy into the distortion, the instruments' gauges noticeably jumping for a split second, Sonic then hitting the wall, and for a moment, uncurling, standing **on** he wall before leaping right off it, curling and spinning again, another jump of energy being read.

"Dr. Akagi, is it just me, or does this distortion look familiar?" Hajime asked.

"I see the resemblance, yes," Ritsuko said "But the instruments aren't picking up any sign of it being that! But they are picking up the energy in his propulsion… Very odd."

"Resemblance to--" Misato began, before her eyes went wide "Y-you've got to be kidding! But… I do see it! It's… It's…"

"It's an AT Field, Major," Hajime said "Or, at least, something similar. After all, if it was, wouldn't it be readable? And the tests have disproven he's an Angel, so that can't be it, either… But this kinetic barrier he's using, he's consciously concentrating his energy into it!"

"What in the hell is this creature?" Ritsuko said "He's not an Angel, he's not human, his genetics are unreadable, he uses an AT Field-like energy for propelling himself… He's** impossible! **"

"I think Eggman may know more about this creature than he's letting on. Ritsuko, Major… The hedgehog suggested a genetic test on Eggman… The detailed results aren't ready, but I'm expecting a fax in a few moments. Sonic said they're not from this world… This plane. If Eggman's results come out as 0… Then we might be on the verge of an amazing discovery when it comes to extra-planar entities."

"You're saying that if beings come from separate planes, their genetics will be completely unique from each other, even if their scientific systems are the same?" Misato asked, getting a nod from both scientists "But, what about this AT Field-like thing?"

"It's possible that because of planar differences, their AT Fields can't be read," Ritsuko said "Or it's not an AT Field but something similar, like what was said before… and possibly, both. But, let's worry less about the structure extra-planar entities for the time being. This is a very, very interesting development… If this energy field is AT Field-like in nature… Sonic could possibly be able to strengthen his use of this personal field of his to whole new levels…"

"This has to be reported to the Commander," Hajime said "Will you or I go and tell him the news?"

Before his question could be answered, a guard suddenly showed up, looking at them, and then, spoke.

"Dr. Suzuhara, the Commander would like to speak to you immediately," he said "He says it's about the Marduk Institute."

Right then and there, Dr. Hajime Suzuhara grew pale and froze. He didn't seem like the type to do so before, but there he was. And Ritsuko glanced at him. And it was a knowing glance. She knew what this was about. Hajime unfroze a moment later, and walked out, the guard following him.

"Guess fate stepped in, huh?" Misato said, trying to clear the air "Though, he did seem a little bit spooked, there… wonder why."

"It's an Institute matter, for the time being, Misato," Ritsuko said "They're probably closing in on choosing the Fourth Child. Very important matter. I'm sure you know that you'll have to wait til they report their findings."

"Yeah, I know. Stupid red tape. So, wonder who the 'lucky' kid is."

"I have no idea," Ritsuko said.

She was lying through her teeth. She knew, and Hajime knew, exactly who the Fourth Child was.

And it wasn't Sonic the Hedgehog.

Misato would be very happy to hear that… but not happy to hear who it would be, and what was about to come. This was but a prelude to a crisis.

****

To Be Continued

Author's Notes

Finally. Finally. FINALLY. Over ONE FREAKING YEAR of writer's block later, I was finally able to write this new chapter! I was stuck for so long, as I could just NOT get a good intro for the chapter, and therefore screwing up my ability to write the chapter in full, but, I finally did it. And what really irked me is the fact that I have the story planned out as far as the general plot timeline and most of the events and I couldn't write one freaking chapter to continue ahead into the good stuff. Hopefully this one-year hiatus won't happen again for the next chapter.

So, yeah, I brought in an OC, Toji's grandfather, Hajime. Not to worry, he's no Gary Stu by any stretch of the imagination, he's more of a background and supporting role character and he'll probably only make one or two more appearances. This is, after all, about Sonic, Eggman, and the Eva cast. One or two more OCs will probably pop up at some point later on, though.

So, see you guys next chapter, and hopefully, this time, it won't take me a whole freaking year to write it.


	10. Hailstorm 1

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Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis

Chapter Nine: Hailstorm, Part 1 - Brewing

Hajime looked at his two superiors solemnly as they discussed the specifics of Eva-03's condition and the status of its soon-to-be pilot, the second one concerning him far more than the first, so much that he had forgotten to report on Sonic's abilities altogether.

"We could have given it a different soul, Commander," he grumbled.

"I would speak up if I were you, Dr. Suzuhara," Fuyutsuki replied, looking at the doctor, whose age was quite close to his own "I don't think we heard that clearly."

"I **said,** we could've given this Eva a different soul! Anyone's, rather than his mother's! Someone else's mother..."

"You know that's not possible, Doctor," Gendo said "The Marduk Institute has chosen the boy, and they know what they're doing when they make their selection."

"That's a load of crap, and you know it. The Marduk Institute in itself is nothing but a bunch of... of... of, pardon my language... shit! The three of us know it, Dr. Akagi knows it, SEELE knows it... The Institute is nothing but a lie... We've known who we were going to be able to use from the very start. Why couldn't it have been Eva-04 instead?"

"Because the Eva has vanished into thin air, perhaps?" Fuyutsuki muttered loud enough to be heard clearly "Even after Dr. Eggman's warning and precautions, it's still gone, and the American branch wants us to pick up the pieces."

"No, I wish the soul had been implanted in it before the incident and disappeared with it. Then I wouldn't be so worried and frightened. Like I said, this whole thing is bullshit."

"I would watch your tone of language, Dr. Suzuhara," Gendo warned "This is the way things are meant to be. We can't escape fate. You know this."

"There's no such thing as fate, Commander Ikari," Hajime said with a glare "And, Professor, why do you defend all of this? It's just wrong. We were friends long before Ikari came along, but you've put your trust into him completely... He's not trustworthy. And sixteen years ago, you would have agreed. Why has this changed?"

"There's nothing I can do, Hajime," Fuyutsuki said, frowning "Please stop questioning all of this and get things prepared. However, things would be too hard for you to break to him, we understand that. Dr. Akagi will take care of it soon."

Hajime hung his head low, defeated.

"Yes, sir," he replied, heading out of the room, almost to the point of tears, but managing to hold it all back as he went to check the fax machine for Eggman's test results and getting back to testing the hedgehog, Ritsuko passing by him, heading to the Commander's office.

"So, I take it you told him?" she asked when she arrived.

"That's correct," Fuyutsuki replied "He replied almost as expected... He is livid, and he lashed out a little."

"I'd say that's understandable, but he shouldn't question the fact."

"How goes the construction of the Dummy System?" Gendo asked, cutting to the chase.

"Just another day and a half to two, and it should be completed. Testing, however, will be a different story. Hmm, has Eggman said anything about the next Angel?"

"Not yet, he's working on your little collaboration, as I'm sure you know. He said he'll inform us once he finishes the tests. Speaking of tests..."

"I'll be testing Rei tomorrow," Ritsuko responded, before smiling slightly "You'll be there, too, of course?"

"Of course," Gendo replied, his voice then becoming eerily seductive, Ritsuko subtly blushing at his next sentence "I will also be seeing you tonight, correct?"

"Of course."

"That will be all, then."

With that, Ritsuko headed out, Fuyutsuki glancing at Gendo.

"How much longer will this continue, Ikari?" he asked, looking a bit nauseated.

"Hopefully, her use will not run out too quickly," Gendo replied coolly "She has been a tremendous asset, and will hopefully continue to be such. Another reason why Eggman needs to be taken care of... if he knew, he would no doubt try taking advantage of it. It's what I would do if it were me."

"Sometimes I wonder if you enjoy doing this..."

"Unfortunately, it's necessary. This is all for her. Nothing else matters to me. You know this."

Fuyutsuki simply replied with a nod, slightly skeptical that "she" would approve of all this... But Gendo was right. This was the way things had to be...

Right?

And Ritsuko suddenly came back in, Fuyutsuki jumping a little, Gendo not batting an eye.

"I almost forgot, did Dr. Suzuhara tell you about the latest test results on Sonic?"

"No," Gendo said "He must have forgotten... What are they?"

Ritsuko went into an explanation of what she, Hajime, and Misato had seen, the two men listening intently.

"Interesting, wouldn't you say, Ikari?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"Very interesting., indeed," Gendo concurred "Get to work on him focusing his abilities, Doctor. The sooner we can utilize hem, the better."

"Will do," Ritsuko responded "Speaking of which, how much longer should we keep up the charade of us considering him as a candidate? After all, we've already got the Fourth Child."

"Keep up appearances until absolutely necessary."

"Yes, sir. See you tonight."

Once again, Dr. Akagi left, and headed down the hall, with a new question on her mind...

What did Gendo mean by "all for 'her'"? She hadn't meant to eavesdrop, but she had to go back into the office to check if Hajime reported what he said he was going to. Did he mean her personally, or did he mean "her", as in his late wife? Despite their fling, she knew he loved Yui dearly, even though it had been a while since her passing... Of course, she was still there, in a way...

It didn't matter to Ritsuko. Yui was "gone", and he was with her now. Of course, if she had heard the rest of the conversation between the two men, her mood would be far different. If she were to learn the entire truth, she would definitely be feeling a lot different.

Little did she know, the truth would find a way of coming out eventually...

In the meantime, Maya had reached the control room where the mother brain of the Iruel-II system sat... or, rather, hung. It looked like a large, metal insect that was attached to the ceiling by an obscenely large network of wires and tubing. Four appendages were attached to the segmented midsection of the thing, two looking like two-clawed hands, the other two looking a lot more like the legs of a predatory arthropod's. The clawed hands simply hung limply, while the other two idly twitched and wiggled.

There was another arm, not attached to its body, but further up on another metal structure within the wiring network, like the hand-claws on the body, had two digits, but he arm was far larger and a bit more articulate. According to Ritsuko, this was its constructing arm, which was responsible for creating new units. This, however, was the first time Maya was seeing this personally.

__

"Is this... thing absolutely necessary?" she thought to herself _"It looks more like a weapon of war that should be out on the field, rather than a supercomputer and construction unit... Then again, he designed this abomination, not me. There's definitely something going on, here..."_

She stepped out to take a closer look at the thing, when a sudden noise sent her back into hiding. Looking out, she saw none other than the round mad scientist himself pacing around the perimeter. Luckily, it seemed he hadn't noticed her, and was too absorbed in muttering to himself about something or other.

__

"Damn it, how am I supposed to do this if he's around?" Maya asked herself. No sooner did she do so, Eggman gave several more glances before nodding in approval and headed to the elevator. Sighing with relief, she ambled over to the control panel and monitors set onto the ground, their wiring heading up the wall and joining the networking on the creature. The diagnostics were reporting everything was completely nominal. It seemed to be in an idle state at the moment, with no construction schedule for the time being.

Looking around one last time and locating the disc drive, popped a compact disc from her pocket, and inserted it onto the drive. The guy who she had bought it from on the street had said it was a quality product. She didn't want to go to these lengths, but she had to stop Eggman. Not just because he seemed to have absolutely duped Ritsuko, but because she felt this man was a danger to not just NERV, but the whole world. This was a preemptive strike.

Taking a breath, she typed a few things in and activated the contents of the disc. Or rather, it was the first part of the activation of the virus inside of it. Its effects wouldn't activate right away, otherwise any computer user worth their salt would notice and take proactive steps in stopping it.

__

"I'm sorry, sempai, I know you worked hard on this, too, but this device will spell the end of everything... I can't let Eggman take over everything! I'm saving us all. I'm saving you."

Quickly, Maya removed the disc, turned a heel, and got out of the room as fast as possible.

Meanwhile, Sonic's tests continued, but the results were less than stellar. The energy field's limit was at an impasse, its power and ability was still nowhere near what an AT field could do. Hajime had returned pretty quickly, and his change of attitude was quite noticeable. While Misato wanted to ask him what was bothering him, it probably wasn't the wisest thing to do, so she kept quiet. And it was wise to shut up, because he blew up at one of the interns when they tried to ask him that very same thing.

"Everything's fine!" he shouted "Don't ask questions that are of no importance to this study or your job, understand?! Keep an eye on those energy readings, or..."

"Y-y-yes, sir!" the intern yelped, going back to the task at hand.

"Hmm, this is hopeless," Hajime said after a little while, "At least for the time being... damn it all... I'm not in the mood for this right now. I think we should stop for today. What do you think, Major?"

"It's your decision, Dr. Suzuhara," she responded "It doesn't look like we're going to get much else done, at least for today.

"Alright then. End the testing, on the double."

The same intern, not wanting a repeat performance, quickly did as he was told.

"So, that's it?" Sonic asked, coming out of the chamber, "Guess this is as good as it'll get."

"Now, don't speak too quickly," Hajime replied "Besides, I don't think you're the type to give up so easily."

"Right-o! There's always tomorrow, or whenever you guys want."

"The science department will let the Major know when we'll be able to test you again."

"Understood," Misato said, nodding and headed out of the laboratory, Sonic right on her heels.

"Dr. S seemed a little down back there," Sonic soon chimed "Something happen during the tests?"

"No idea. The Commander wanted to see him, and when he came back, he was completely out of it. Something must've been said at that meeting that struck a nerve... it's probably none of my business, though. If it is, I'll get told in due time."

"I don't know, Misato... Do you really believe that? I dunno how this place works behind the scenes, but, there is something very uncool about all of this. 'Do what you're told, don't ask questions, we'll tell you when we want to tell you', it's not something I like at all."

Misato froze for a moment, sighing.

"I, er, well..."

"Hm?"

"...Have I mentioned a guy named Kaji before?"

Sonic thought for a moment.

"Don't think so. Why?"

"Maybe you two should meet. He has been a little curious about you, and..."

"And, what?"

Misato was silent for a long while, then chuckled wryly.

"You'll get to know that when you meet him. Oh, irony..."

Sonic grinned sheepishly and laughed, the two heading to the car port.

At the same time, Ritsuko was looking around the lab where the Dummy System was being developed. Didn't Maya say she was going to the bathroom nearly two hours ago? She'd been in the lab waiting for an hour so far, wouldn't Maya have come by now?

And she nearly jumped out of her seat when Maya came in just as she was finishing that idle thought.

"Where have you been, Maya? I've been waiting here for an hour, and I know you said you were going to the bathroom at least two hours ago."

"Uhm, well, sempai, uh, I..."

"Well, what? Where were you?"

Maya had to think of something, something believable and relevant to how she had excused herself. Oh, and the fact she was taking so long to say anything, as well.

"Uh, I," she mumbled "This is really, really embarrassing, but... I got a real bad case of the runs! It was horrible, sempai, the minute I thought I was done, I had to go again... There were a few times I was finally heading back here, then bam, more diarrhea! I went, like..."

"That's enough, Maya," Ritsuko said with a grimace "I don't need to know any further information... Though, I would advise you get some of that Pepito-Bismarck stuff so it won't happen again, alright? There can't be any unnecessary distractions."

"Of course not. Let's finish this mofo and get to testing!"

Ritsuko laughed at this remark.

"Yes, let's."

Despite this, Maya was idly wondering if Ritsuko had actually believed her or was simply scrutinizing her in her thoughts. She really hoped what she had done was worth the trouble. Too late to turn back now, she would have to see the whole thing through.

"Where the hell is Misato?!" Asuka bellowed "It's almost dinnertime and she hasn't come home..."

"Uhm," Shinji said sheepishly "M-maybe she had to work late? It happens..."

"Sonic's not here, either, so maybe, just **maybe** you're right. Urrgh, why am I complaining, anyways?! She can't cook worth dog crap, so this is a good thing, right? Okay, Shinji, what is there to eat?"

"Uh... uh... you want coffee, heated up leftover ramen, or this gelatin that looks like it's got mold?"

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding! Surely there's more around here than tha--"

"Afraid not," Shinji said while she was speaking. Big mistake.

"Don't you **dare **interrupt nor scrutinize me, Shinji Ikari!"

Shinji ducked under a thrown bowl, which shattered as it collided with the countertop, then tried dodging not one, but three empty cans, the first one getting dodged easily, but the other two smacked into his face.

"Ow, ow, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

"What did I tell you about your apologies?" Asuka grumbled while looking at the supplies herself, to make sure he wasn't fibbing, and soon let out a stream of curses when she found out he was telling the truth, "Damn it! There **is** nothing! When was the last time you or Misato went shopping?!"

"C-couple of days ago. G-g-guess we didn't get as much as we th-thought..."

"Urrrgh! Call for a pizza or something, then! I don't care, I want food!"

Shinji sighed, dreading the reaction to what he was about to say next:

"M-misato has her wallet with her, I think. We'll have to wait til she comes back before we can pay for it..."

"Oh, forget it!" she shouted, and headed over to the fridge, pulling out the ramen and the gelatin, the second of which she tore the mold off of and threw into the trash, "You warm this ramen up, I'll divide the gelatin. As for something to drink, it'll just have to be water, I guess. You wouldn't catch me dead with a can of coffee in my hand, grinning like an idiot..."

Shinji nodded, getting to work. Asuka found that after getting rid of the mold, the gelatin was actually pretty damn good despite their previous reservations, although the ramen, well, it seemed to have been in the fridge since before **Shinji** moved in, and that was saying something. Asuka kept herself from coughing it back up, she was too hungry to complain about or waste the food.

Shinji, on the other hand, wanted to find a way to wash the taste out of his mouth, and finding water didn't seem to do it, he took to one of the cans of coffee. And he found, that despite its own taste, it tasted a lot better than the ramen he was washing down with it. And then, he got the bright idea to drink another.

And then, a third. And halfway through that, the meek, reserved Shinji Ikari was replaced by a wired off his rocker, hyper-caffeinated one.

"Heyyy, Asukayoushouldreallytrysomecoffee! It'll washdown all thaaaat icky ol' ramen flavor, really! It'sgoodhonest!"

Asuka balked.

"How much of that crap have you had to drink, you dorkchop?!"

"IamonmythirdcanAsuka. Yesthirdcan!"

"Whaaat? You're talking too fast, I can barely understand you!"

"... ... ...Sssssooorrries Ahcrapsorry... dammit, I'm sorr-- uhm... Th-th-third can! Guess this has a bit more caffeine than sodas..."

"A **bit?! **Coffee, has, like, enough to fill a six pack of soda! In one can!"

"I'll stop drinking, then... after I finish this can!"

Asuka ripped the can from Shinji's hand with one hand, and smacked him upside the head with her free one, Shinji emitting a yelp.

"No. More. Coffee!"

"Okay, okay, s--" he began to say, to see Asuka glaring, and changed his choice of words, "S-sheesh!"

"Good boy," she said with a smirk, patting him on the head, then, while he wasn't looking, drank what was left in the can. Shinji was right, it did taste better compared to the ramen, "You really are an incorragable ninny, Shinji."

Thinking back on what just happened, she had to keep herself from giggling. Wired Shinji was a pretty amusing concept, and it actually happening made it all the more hilarious, mayhaps, even endearing. No, no, it couldn't be endearing. There was no way.

Eventually, Misato and Sonic arrived, utterly clueless as to what had transpired. In fact, as fate would have it, if Eggman hadn't put his plan into action at all, it never would have come to be...

When asked about where they were, Misato simply told them they'd gone to see Kaji. Asuka groaned at this, jealousy filling her head and pushing the caffeinated Shinji incident back. Sonic looked like he wanted to say what had exactly happened, but Misato was quite adamant to have the Children know as little as possible, at least for the time being. A pizza was soon ordered, and the past seemingly forgotten.

And somewhere else, a groaning, panting Dr. Ritsuko Akagi fell back onto a fluffy pillow, Commander Gendo Ikari flopping on top of her, the both of them naked and glistening with sweat.

"I told you I'd see you tonight, did I not?" Gendo asked with a slight huff.

"That you did, Gendo, that you did.," Ritsuko replied, twitching at what Gendo said next.

"Commander Ikari, Doctor. What did I tell you about calling me by my first name? It's been a while since you've slipped up like that, but..."

"Fine, **Commander.** I just forgot, is all, alright? It's been a busy couple of days, so excuse me if I screw up on something so simple."

"Good enough, Doctor. This was an acceptable nightcap. I shall see you tomorrow morning regarding Rei. Sleep well."

He quickly kissed her on her forehead, sat up and methodically got dressed, and headed out the door of Ritsuko's apartment nonchalantly.

"Bastard," she whispered to herself, "You never seem to hold me afterwards..."

Gendo always satisfied her physically, but lately, and thinking on it, even before then, was he really satisfying her emotionally? Humans are weird creatures, caring more for pleasure than their feelings. This time around, while Ikari had been her main focus, for obvious reasons; in the back of her head, she was thinking about other things, other people... perhaps, people that could satisfy her in the way she only wished Gendo would.

__

"Ivo, Maya... what would things be like with either of you? Would things be different?"

Her thoughts drifted away as she, herself drifted to sleep.

In the United States, Evangelion 03 was going through its last preparations before it was to be flown over to Japan, and hopefully away from a shared fate with its sister unit, Eva-04. But hope wouldn't be enough, in fact, miles away, the destroyer of any semblance of hope for this particular Evangelion had finally caught a ride in a mass of clouds, now simply playing a game of patience and waiting.

Eva-03, in its transport would fly through the cloud soon enough...

Bardiel, the Angel of Hail, was about to create a storm that would very much so emphasize his title to a T. And Lilith help anyone unfortunate enough to be caught in his path.

And the coming hailstorm was only the beginning.

****

To Be Continued

Author's Notes

And another chapter of Sonic the Hedgehog: GENESIS completed! It's a little bit shorter than the last one, as I couldn't think of much to fit into this chapter in the long run, it was an off and on work for the last month and a half. It would have been even shorter if I hadn't put in the Wired Shinji Incident, but I felt this chapter needed a little bit of humor before the intense stuff begins.

I could have also made it a little longer with Misato and Sonic meeting up with Kaji, but I found it more appropriate to be revealed via flashback instead. It might show up within the next chapter or so.

And, hey, maybe this update schedule (one new chapter every 1.5-2 months) will become a trend. We'll see.


	11. Hailstorm 2

****

Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis

Chapter Ten: Hailstorm, Part 2 - The Tumult

Ritsuko Akagi walked down the hall of Tokyo 3's only school, headed straight for the nurse's office, her expression blank but edgy. Today was the day the Fourth Child would be informed of their selection to be on the Evangelion pilot roster.

But, this was not the reason she was slightly on edge, it was the events of the past few days. First the day of her walking in on Gendo and Fuyutsuki discussing something that might not have been for her ears, and the same night, the one of her and the Commander's usual romp in the bedroom that left her in a small flutter of despair over his coldness, coldness she was well aware of, but somehow, that night, it had actually **bothered** her.

But, most of all it was that next, immediate morning, the tests on Rei. It had started out as business as usual,

testing Rei's molecular structure, giving the girl her medications, usual BP and pulse junk, just more of the same. But then, there was something else, something that, like he Commander's bedroom manner that was always obvious but not utterly bothersome until this time around.

Ikari was soothing, soft, compassionate. All of his cares came flowing out, him actually **smiling**. But not towards her, Dr. Ritsuko Akagi.

It was towards that **doll**. Ritsuko knew Rei's importance to the status quo, her use to the agency. But Gendo was treating her like a child, a relative, the love of his entire life. Things he didn't show towards Shinji, his own biological child, things he didn't show towards the woman he was sleeping with, the woman he supposedly loved. To him, it was all about Rei.

Rei, Rei, Rei, Rei... REI!!

This thought made her tremble with fury momentarily in that hall before she opened the door to the nurse's office and wandered in. It had been a simple, envious glance on that morning of tests, now it had been a shake of rage. She took several deep breaths and calmed herself down. These thoughts weren't something to dwell on. NERV's mission first, her own interests later... Right?

The nurse glanced at Ritsuko with little interest as she closed the door behind her.

"Selecting your next vict-- er, the next pilot today?" she asked, interested enough to make a little small talk.

"That's correct. And don't try to get on a high horse you don't even have. After all, it's not like you care about your patients, right?"

"Don't judge me. But yes, I apologize. Shall I call over the intercom now?"

"Please do."

The nurse hobbled over to the intercom, clicked the call button, and spoke into the microphone.

"Toji Suzuhara, please come to the nurse's office. I repeat, Toji Suzuhara, report to the nurse's office."

"Wonder what they want?" Toji asked aloud.

"Dunno, Toji, could be nothing, could be serious," Kensuke replied, craning his neck behind him "Geh! What if you're gonna be the next Eva pilot?! I'm going to be so jealous if you do."

"Heh, I doubt it. Seriously, don't be silly. It's probably about my sister So I better get my ass movin'."

"Gotcha. Tell her I said 'hi' when you go, eh?"

Toji simply grunted in response and got up and headed to the nurse's office, about to get the most interesting yet dreadful news of his life.

"Mr. Suzuhara, the Marduk Institute has chosen you to be the pilot of Evangelion 03."

"Excuse me?"

"I said," Ritsuko said aloud "You are to be the next Eva pilot. Congratulations."

"I, uh, you're kiddin'."

"No."

"Look, Doc, you're cute and all, but I don't really wanna be the next pilot. Hey, look, my friend, Kensuke Aida's really interested so why not ask him?"

"Because," Ritsuko explained "The Institute didn't select him. They selected you, plain and simple. They think you're very capable."

"But I don't want to pilot one. Sure, Shinji's my pal, but he accidentally hurt my sister the first time he did the duty, and, well, I don't think I could deal with doing something like that to some other dude's sister."

"We know about your sister, Mr. Suzuhara."

"Well, then, guess that's that," Toji said with a nod, getting up and prepared to exit.

"We're prepared to give her the finest medical attention money can buy, Mr. Suzuhara. All you have to do is pilot the Eva at least once."

Toji stood there in complete silence, before mumbling out a response.

"Just... once?"

"That's what I said. Just pilot the Eva and NERV will take care of your sister's injuries and everything else. We have the technology to do it."

Toji sighed, lowering his head.

"Yanno, Doc, this is..."

"Blackmail? No, that's forcing you to pilot in exchange for something. We're not going to force you. You can just say 'no' right now, and it'll be over. We'll let this Aida boy pilot it."

Toji stood silent again for a few moments.

"Well? Yes or no?"

"Fine, I'll do it. But if you go back on yer word, I'm out. You got it?"

"Don't worry," Ritsuko said with a sly smile "We won't. Welcome to NERV, Toji."

Toji didn't respond, he simply walked out. Ritsuko stood there for a few more minutes before leaving, herself.

That had been nearly a week ago. Ritsuko Akagi was now at her lab desk, sipping her coffee and looking at her notes. The Dummy System was complete. Now all there was left was to test it. However, testing was not on the agenda yet. As Gendo would say, "the time will come when it comes".

__

"Buh-uh-uhllshit. It should be tested ASAP, just in case it fails in the emergency it's needed," Ritsuko thought to herself _"Then again, its chances of failure are in the lower percentiles. Still..."_

"I think this Dummy System is a work of genius," a boisterous voice said, interrupting her thoughts.

"Ivo, you've said that five times in the past twenty-four hours. I thank you again, but, give it a rest, alright?"

"I know, I know," Eggman replied "But it is. It could make Eva pilots completely obsolete if perfected. No more having to use children to get things done!"

"Evan if it's tested and comes out perfect, I highly doubt it will be able to completely erase the uses and bonds of a sentient human mind and a related soul. It's for emergencies only."

"I know. Still, it would be quite the useful tool."

"Please don't tell me how to use something you had no hand in developing," Ritsuko snorted "If it were the Iruel-II System, it would be different. But it's not. Gendo wants it this way."

"Why should he always have his way?!" Eggman scoffed.

"Because he's the commander, and therefore is the highest authority here? I think it's been explained to you enough times."

"But--"

"I'm not going to let you bring up SEELE," Ritsuko interrupted, knowing well if she didn't, he would make an argument about their level of authority. She didn't feel like arguing about the subject again.

"Alright then, I apologize," Eggman chuckled "Besides... we both well know that Commander Ikari dances to his own tune. If he feels he doesn't need SEELE, he'll do something about it."

"Suppose not."

"In fact, if he feels he doesn't need someone else, anyone else, he'll do something about it. And you're going to hate me for this, but that includes you. I don't think someone being his lover would deter him from tossing even them away like old trash."

"Now you're sounding like Maya," Ritsuko said irritably "I trust him. He won't betray me, nor I him."

Eggman said nothing aloud at that.

__

"Don't be so sure, Ritsuko."

Just then, her cell phone rang, and she quickly answered it.

"Hello? Huh? Oh, they're transporting the Eva to the second Japanese base now? Right, I'll be on my way, Misato."

Eggman looked at her, his eyes widening a little. It was the next Angel's time already! He'd been so engulfed in his other endeavors that he had forgotten!

"Hey, Ritsuko, before you go--"

"Tell me when I get back," Ritsuko replied as she hung up "I have to go observe the test for the Eva immediately."

"But!"

It was too late, however. Ritsuko had already left. There was only one thing to do... he had to go see the Commander and Fuyutsuki and tell them about the next Angel. Ritsuko was right about one thing. Gendo had authority, and if he knew if he was informed, he would have the testing halted immediately. Eggman waddled off to Gendo's office as fast as he could.

And who watched him run past but Maya Ibuki and Sonic the Hedgehog.

"Where's he going in such a hurry?" Maya muttered.

"Dunno, but I know him, and that was definitely his 'crap, crap, crap' look."

"It's activated already?" Maya whispered to herself "I thought it was going to be a few more--"

"What?"

"Oh! Uhm, nothing. Maybe he got himself into more trouble than he can handle. Or, maybe, today's the test of Evangelion 03, maybe it has something to do with that. Mr. Hedgehog..."

"I told you, 'Sonic' will do. After all, it's nice to see yet another staff member agrees with me on Eggman."

"That's true. I'm glad, too. That rotten egg is scum, and he's going to be the end of Dr. Akagi."

"And NERV, too, right?" Sonic asked, curious as to why she only mentioned the not natural blonde doctor.

"I don't think he'll be much of a threat to NERV. They know he's bad news. But the Old Men are allowing him to stay for who knows what."

"Who are these Old Men anyway? You're the third person I've heard mention 'em."

"SEELE. It's German for 'soul', I believe. They're basically the guys who really run NERV. That's all I really know about them, I don't have enough authority to learn any more than that. Who else mentioned them?"

"Misato and someone that probably wants to remain nameless. Seems these SEELE guys are up to something, and Eggman is part of this something. Whatever it is, I don't think it's good. these guys may own NERV, but they sound as bad as Eggman."

"Sonic?" Maya asked.

"Hm?"

"Could you tell the Major and this other person about this? I... I'd like to get in on this. If it'll help stop and get rid of that round bastard, I want in."

Sonic was about to respond, when Maya was suddenly paged. She took one quick look at it, and...

"They're gonna be doing the Eva test, so I have to go to the Bridge, like, **now**."

"No problemo," Sonic said "I'll come with."

And with that, they were off.

In the meantime, Toji Suzuhara looked out the window of the VTOL that was transporting him to his fate. He still remembered what it had been like inside Shinji's Eva when he and Kensuke had to get their asses saved by him. Sure, it wouldn't be as cramped, but he knew the haunting smell of the LCL would be there. His memories of that experience would be there, with Shinji screaming like a banshee as he attacked the huge, pink creature, its tentacles plowing into the Eva's flesh.

Shinji had told him later that what the Eva felt, you would feel. Its arm would get broken, yours would hurt like it had been broken, too. Toji was into sports, so he knew all about painful injuries. Like the time he was eight and he overextended his right leg, bending it in a way that was not intended. Damn, did that hurt. Looked kinda cool thinking back, but it hurt. But that wasn't his worry. His worry was that he could die if his Eva got hit in a vital part, like getting its head crushed or torn off, or pierced through the heart, if it **had** one.

And of course, what if someone else got hurt by him piloting it? He'd only done this because they had agreed to take care of his sister, a person who had been hurt by the collateral damage these things could cause. He was almost sure that if his grandfather wasn't working with NERV, they wouldn't have even offered to take care of his sister.

Actually, Hajime was in the aircraft with him, looking almost as thoughtful and troubled as Toji did. He had told Toji he was sorry several times, that it was beyond his control. Whether Toji believed him or not, he didn't know. And that worried him. Toji had said it was fine, but what if he was trying to spare his feelings? He knew the boy was very direct, even with his elders, but the way he had halfheartedly said it was not very comforting.

"So, Grandpa, this is it, huh..." Toji said, breaking the silence.

"Yes. Don't worry, Toji, I'll be in contact with you the whole time, so if you have any problems, just tell me. I'm sorry things had to turn out this way."

"I know, Grandpa. Stop doubting yourself, already. I'll be fine. Really, old man, you're smotherin' me!"

Hajime actually brightened up and laughed at that. Guess the boy believed him after all. Toji brightened up, too. And just then, they landed.

"We're here," said the pilot "Everyone out! The other transport will be here shortly."

And just like that, silence again. The two Suzuharas said nothing more and got ready and exited.

Just as that took place, Eggman reached the door to the Commander's office. The guard looked at him for a moment, before speaking up.

"The Commanders have already gone to the Bridge, Eggman."

"Dammit!" Eggman shouted "Thanks. Sorry to bother you."

The guard just nodded as the Eggman ran off in the other direction. Luckily, the bridge wasn't very far, and he soon reached it, only to be paged.

"What now?!"

He looked at the pager and swore to himself. It was SEELE, and they wanted to meet with him immediately. But he had to tell Gendo about the Angel! he thought for a moment, and then sighed, searing again and headed off. Better to get in trouble with Commander Ikari than the Old Men. Besides, it may have been better for him not to bear witness to the spectacle that was about to come.

And in the Bridge, everyone had gathered to their usual places, except for Eggman and the ones present at the other location. Sonic didn't have a usual location, but he had perched himself on the Melchoir unit, arms crossed, looking relaxed but vigilant.

"Okay, we've got the pilot in the Entry Plug, and we're inserting it in just a moment," Ritsuko said over the comm line "Things are looking nominal."

"Good, good," Gendo said, raising his face above his hands.

"It's in now," Hajime said a moment later "No problems thus far. Okay, we're lowering the hatch now."

"And it's closed," Misato said.

"Begin standard procedure, as usual," Gendo responded.

"Roger. Uh... odd."

"What is it, Major?"

"Nerve linking and synchronization graphs aren't moving," Ritsuko said with a little bit of concern in her voice "Oh, wait, there it goes. False alarm, Commander."

"Yes, things are going smooth--"

Hajime's sentence wasn't finished, instead, there was the sound of an explosion, and static, Sonic jumping up.

"What just happened?!"

"That's what I would like to know, creature," Gendo said calmly, eerily so.

"You're calm at a time like this?! Something bad might've happened!"

"What use is there to be panicking, hedgehog?" Fuyutsuki interjected "All personnel, find out what happened, try and get contact again, immediately! If something's gone wrong with the test..."

"You have a point there, pops. Sorry."

"We're trying to get in contact again, but no such luck yet!" Aoba called out.

Maya was silent, but in her mind, Ritsuko was going through it like gatling fire. She might be hurt, or dead! As could the others present! She was in a tizzy, pressing buttons and clacking keys like mad.

"Still nothing!" Hyuga called "This is bad!"

"No shit, it's bad!" Maya finally said "Dammit, dammit, dammit! **C'mon!** Wait, we're getting a signal! It's not coming from the base proper, but... but... oh no... ohhhh no."

"Out with it, Lieutenant," Gendo said harshly.

"There was an explosion of a high energy concentration at the base, there are readings of an AT Field at the same time!" Aoba said for her.

"What sort?" Fuyutsuki asked.

"It appears to be the Eva's at first, but it gets too strong for that, so what do you think it is?!"

"Watch your tone," Fuyutsuki replied with a glower "But, this is, bad. Very bad."

"What's going on?" Sonic asked.

"It's an Angel!" Maya blurted out "It's attacked the base!"

Sonic tried to think of a response, but could only mutter it.

"Crap on a stick."

Everything had been going on fine on the other side, despite the slight delay with the synchronization.

"Why isn't it starting?" Hajime had asked, before it started up suddenly.

"Oh, wait, there it goes," Ritsuko said after "False alarm, Commander."

Things ran smoothly for a moment.

But Bardiel had other ideas. It had been so easy, so stupidly easy, those stupid Lilim transporting one of their abominations by air. All he had to do was be in the right place at the right time. And lo and behold, it worked. It passed right through the cloud, and Bardiel had figuratively pounced. Seeping into the gaps in the Eva's armor and the holes in its helm was so pitifully easy. The Lilim couldn't even notice. He could have activated right away, but that would have been unwise, so he waited until they did the activation themselves.

And when Misato began to speak, he struck. KABOOM! With a simple gathering and concentration of energy, he completely blew them away, so to speak with his little surprise. He loved that sound of sudden, all too late panic, and of the explosion itself. His siblings were either too passive or too cocky, and that had gotten them killed. But Bardiel, he was wily, he was sneaky, and, what was that term Lilim used?

Ah, yes. He was "sadistic". He was already invading the Eva's nervous system and bloodstream, it wouldn't be too long until her flesh was at his command. She was begging for him to stop, while cursing and condemning him with her words. But that didn't last. What did Lilim call this?

"Rape" and "hostile takeover". She had also been saying something about her son... Hm. Probably the Lilin that was inside that plug. he supposed he was next, then. But... he had different ideas for Toji than the dumb bitch he had claimed.

Toji was screaming, banging on the plug's walls, scared, disoriented, and panicked. Something had happened, something bad. This thing was no control room, it was a coffin! Why did he agree to this?! Damn them! Damn them all to hell!

And then, there was another presence in the plug with him. And it wasn't LCL or another person. It was something foreign, something terrible. He tried to fight it off, but it seeped into his head's pores and orifices, he screamed and scratched, to no avail. But then, he wasn't in pain after a moment. And something calmed him down. White junk was growing on him, sort of like a slimy fungus, the junk seemed to have its own blood vessels, and then he realized that some of it was replacing and/or growing out of his own flesh. He screamed and struggled again, no pain, just panic.

__

"Oh, get ahold of yourself, boy," Bardiel spoke to Toji mentally _"I just need to fuse with you enough to communicate. So... Toji, is it?"_

"Sh-shut up!"Toji cried aloud "Get out, get out..."

__

"Too bad, kiddo, because I can't now. This Eva is now me. So, yer, uh, you're stuck with me. Hmm, interesting. Such a foolish race, but you have so many interesting memories and feelin's... grah! Feelings! D-damn you, the way you speak is taking me over. And I'm the one that's supposed to be infectious."

"Wh-who are you? Why are you doin' this?!"

__

"I am the one who rules over hailstorms, I am the tumult, I am the infector, I am the controller, I am the harbinger. And you, Toji Suzuhara, shall bear witness to my deeds."

"What are you sayin'?!"

__

"Ugh, a bit dense, aren't we? Toji, you're going to bear witness to the end of your kind and the beginning of the prosperity of ours! You've got a front row seat to Armageddon!"

"No! That ain't happenin'! My friend, Shinji, and the other Eva pilots're gonna come and kick yer sorry ass six ways from Sunday! So, whaddya think of that, Mr. Tumult?"

__

"I say, bring it on!! And call me Lord Tumult, boyo!"

And with that, Bardiel cackled madly and arrogantly, even though he was communicating mentally, Toji's ears rang from it, and he shuddered, unable to do a thing to stop this.

He really hoped the other pilots would be able to.

****

To Be Continued

Author's Notes

And there you have it, another chapter! I told you things were about to get serious, did I not? Funnily enough, Hailstorm was going to just be two parts, but my writing's running off with me, so I had better make it three instead!

Anyhoo, my main thoughts here were that Toji's experience with Bardiel wasn't really elaborated upon much in the series, so I thought I'd do that very task myself. It could easily have been a fanfic in its own right, so I may crop the situation into its own story in the normal Eva section at some point, perhaps after this tale is finished. What inspired this specific part's events? I'd say it was more of a who: Stephen King. But there's a "what", too: one of his novels, _Dreamcatcher, _which I've had the pleasure of reading. I recommend it.

So, anyway, the conclusion to the Hailstorm arc should be coming pretty soon. See you next time.


	12. Hailstorm 3

****

Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis

Chapter Eleven: Hailstorm, Part 3 - Fury

"No!" Toji yelled at Bardiel "That ain't happenin'! My friend, Shinji, and the other Eva pilots're gonna come and kick yer sorry ass six ways from Sunday!"

Bardiel was amused at how boisterous, and confident this Lilin boy was... He firmly believed that his allies would be victorious. But Bardiel knew different. This would be like shooting fish in a barrel, whatever that meant.

"So, whaddya think of that, Mr. Tumult?" his hostage asked, trying to intimidate him. As if!

__

"I say, bring it on!! And call me Lord Tumult, boyo!" he answered, breaking into an insane laugh in his amusement. Let's just see how confident he stays when he watches his friends get slaughtered. The boy seemed to get the message that he was helpless, but he still had hope.

Bardiel planned to crush that into nothing, find his parent, and initiate the damnation of the Lilin race, and the salvation of their own. Bardiel scoffed to himself, before beginning to stomp towards Tokyo-3... he couldn't wait to have some fun with what would be in his way.

Meanwhile, within the Angel's destination, the call had gone out to sortie the other three pilots as soon as possible. Rei had arrived nice and prompt as usual. Of course, she had already been at the base anyway, so it wasn't that long of a trip.

As she began to get into her plugsuit, Asuka arrived, ready to kick some ass and show everyone just who the best was. But something else was on her mind... She knew that Toji was the Fourth Child. She knew, and Shinji didn't. Misato knew. Ritsuko knew. But they were either knocked out cold or dead right now. She wanted to tell the boy, but she couldn't. Shinji was the coward, not her! So, why couldn't she...

Her thought was interrupted by that very person, who entered the boys' changing area, very much unaware of what exactly was at stake this time. All he knew was that there was another Angel, and Misato might be hurt.

__

"Scheisse, speak of the devil," she thought to herself, pulling the suit onto her body and zipping it up, getting the air out of it, the usual process. She looked around, Rei was already gone. Shinji was getting ready now, as far as she could tell from his shadow behind the privacy screen. She had to tell--

"Miss Soryu, you're ready," an assistant said "Please don't dawdle and get to your Eva immediately."

"But!"

"Now!"

__

"Dammit," she said to herself, heading off.

While that happened, Bardiel loomed closer and closer towards his destination... It was kind of unsettling, yet relaxing at how little resistance he had met so far. Where were those abominations that the Lilm called Evas? Sort of ironic, he was part of one now, but then again, it **was** him now. Somehow they fit together quite well, as if they were made of the same cut of cloth.

Maybe that was because they shared the same parent. But to him, that didn't matter. They had been made by Lilith's children. They were abominations made to fight his kind and nothing more, to him. He would end this foolishness.

__

"Where are your friends, boy?" he asked Toji _"Where are your great saviors? Heh, maybe they don't give a damn about you after all... This is so damned boring! Hahaha."_

"Th-they'll be here soon. Just you wait..."

__

"If I wanted to wait, I wouldn't be here, imbecile."

"Whatever," Toji quipped "You're still gonna get yer ass kicked."

Bardiel could only laugh at that.

Meanwhile, somewhere darker, but just as important in the grand scheme of everything, Eggman stood before SEELE, unaware and nervous about the reason he was summoned.

"So, when were you going to mention to us that the 13th Angel was coming now, Doctor?" one of the men asked.

"I was too wrapped up in other things," Eggman said "I just remembered today when I heard about Eva-03's test being today. I was about to warn Ikari, but you called me here."

"And now, another Eva has been lost!" cried another "Do you realize how much it cost to create, and then transport it to the emergency base?! If you had informed us sooner, we never would have had to shell out the transportation money! You said that Eva-04 would be safe, but it still vanished, and now this one has been compromised by the 13th Angel."

"At least Nevada still has its base."

"Do you dare mock us?" the first man said.

"No, I'm just mentioning the bright side of things," Eggman retorted "Besides, you know as well as I do that in the long run, these Evangelions' existences are simply moot. Only Eva-01 and a certain group of other units are necessary to your goals, gentlemen."

"He speaks the truth," Keel finally spoke up "Still, we might need the other ones to fight the Angels. The Marduk Institute exists for a reason. But that is a moot point right now."

"So, this isn't about the 13th's arrival, then?"

"No, it is not, Doctor. Though it does concern you, otherwise, you would be dealing with the 13th with the others."

"Understood, Herr Lorenz," Eggman said with a nod "So, what **is** this concern of yours?"

"We have reason to believe that there is a leak," someone said.

"Someone has been snooping into our best kept secrets and mutual affairs," said the man who just a few moments ago, had been yelling at him about the loss of two Evas "We have reason to believe this someone may be one of our own agents."

"Are you accusing me of this?" Eggman asked.

"No," Keel replied "We just thought it would be important that you knew about this. Perhaps, maybe, you might know who it is, considering what you've predicted before, failures notwithstanding. They seem to be looking into the nature of the Marduk Institute, though this would also concern Ikari, who cannot be trusted with this situation, especially if he has something to do with this leak."

"He would be just as irritated with this development as you are, actually. But he is involved with the specific leak in other ways."

"How so?" asked the first speaker.

"This leak is a double, nay, this leak is a triple agent. He is working for you, he is working for Ikari, and he is working for himself. This leak knows about Lilith as well as the Marduk Institute."

This was met with murmurs, mutters, and irritated shouts.

"Are you sure?!" the cost concerned one bellowed "Who... who is it?!"

"Ryoji Kaji," Eggman said matter of factly "He is your leak."

More murmurs, before Keel spoke again.

"We had Kaji down as one of our potential suspects, but now that we know that it's true... He will have to be taken care of before he does more damage, then."

"Don't worry, you have time to plan to plug the leak. Not until after the 14th Angel will you take care of him. If you wish to do it earlier, then do what you will."

"There is something else, Eggman, something you need to know," Keel replied.

"What?"

"He's been snooping into your projects, too. He has been looking into Robotnik Aerial Technologies and Schell Cybernetics, though we think he has no idea that they can be traced back to you... yet."

"Wait, he's **what**?!" Eggman shouted, surprised "I... I couldn't have predicted this part, and I didn't. If he keeps snooping, he could find out about... **it**. Maybe you should take care of things more quickly."

"That's actually the main reason we called you here, Dr. Eggman," the first said.

"Meaning?"

"We are giving you the task of taking care of Agent Kaji by whatever methods you wish, Eggman," Keel said solemnly "We were going to get one of our other agents to take care of him, but then we thought, since you are involved and also being looked into..."

"You... want me to kill him, is that what you're getting at?!"

"We were going have him killed, yes, but as we said, you may use your own methods to neutralize him. Deadly force or no, we need this leak plugged as soon as possible. You may decline, of course."

"I already have my hands full figuring out how to take care of my other problems, but from way you've just said, this is going to be a problem for me, as well. I'll take care of Kaji if time permits. If I don't, prepare your own assassin like you were planning."

"I think you should take care of this on your own," the greedy one said "But you do have your own priorities, so we will take it into consideration."

"Yes, we will," Keel said "This meeting has come to a close. You may go now, Eggman. We will be wanting to see you again."

"Yes, Herr Lorenz," Eggman said "I'm sure we will."

And with that, he left, just in time to watch Bardiel's demise.

It was at about the time Eggman had been yelled at for costing SEELE unnecessary funds that at last, Bardiel and Toji saw a certain blue and cycloptic Evangelion heading for them.

__

"Finally, we get to play!" Bardiel cried in Toji's mind _"Now, watch, as I eviscerate these fools!"_

"This is the Angel?" Rei asked "It appears to have taken the form of an... it is engaging me. I shall respond in kind."

"Form of a what, Wonder Girl?" Asuka asked, but Rei ignored the fiery headed and tempered pilot.

Shinji also wondered what Rei was about to say, but he was lagging behind the girls a little, but catching up.

Brandishing the Eva's knife, Rei charged Bardiel, planning to sink it right into the soft patch of his neck covering, but she didn't reach her destination as Bardiel let out a moan, the Eva's arms, **his** arms now flew forward as if they were made of rubber, rather like that Luffy guy Toji had seen on television when he was younger, the hands grabbing Eva-00's wrist, and with amazing strength, slamming it down into the ground with enough force to create a small crater.

Rei's eyes had flown wide open, she didn't even have a chance to react as she was slammed down, her backside and arm now feeling searing pain. She tried to rise back up, but Bardiel flew up into the air like a slingshot, legs stretching in an impossible manner and letting go of the Eva's wrist, smashed his feet down into its chest armor, Rei letting out a scream.

Gendo wanted to shout out Rei's name in abject horror hearing this over the communication lines, but he kept his cool, nay, his cold demeanor.

"Rei, right yourself and attack."

Hissing in pain, Rei swung her Eva's arms at the Eva-Angel's legs, attempting to knock him off his feet and send him slamming into the ground, himself.

Sure enough, Bardiel was taken by surprise and tumbled off of Rei's Eva, rolling several times before stopping.

"Hey, what was that about destroying her, eh?!" Toji said with a laugh.

__

"Only a minor setback, I assure you," Bardiel grumbled _"Watch and learn , boy!"_

With a loud bang, Bardiel's AT Field exploded outwards, sending him soaring into the air, and straight over Eva-00 as it got back up, performing a leg sweep and sending the Eva flying onto its back once again. And this time, Bardiel was taking no chances, and with a bellow, held her down with his stretchy arms, Toji could hear his mental cackling as Rei and her Eva struggled wildly.

__

"You know, I wonder..." Bardiel mused.

"Wonder what?" Toji asked, afraid of whatever answer his captor was about to dish out.

__

"If I can spread to more than one body... Could you imagine it, boy? Being one of these things gives plenty of power, so, what do you think it would be like if I had the power of multiple copies of these things?! These fools would never stand a chance! Gyahaha! Shall we try it?!"

"No!"

__

"Too damn bad. I'm callin' the shots. Here we go!"

Bardiel's true self oozed from its hiding spaces and down his Eva self's arms and onto the arm, the Eva's mouth gaping open in a phantom's grin at the sound of sizzling matter as he began to infect Eva-00. He just had to take over the arm and invade the nervous system and he'd easily be twice as powerful, if not more!

"The Angel's trying to infect Eva-00 now!" a technician yelled.

"That sounds pretty bad, you have to do something!" Sonic said "Asuka, Shinji..."

"Dammit, I'm going as fast as I can," Asuka grumbled "I'll be there in just a moment!"

"There's no time," Gendo stated "The Eva will be infected before then... Blow off the arm before the Angel succeeds."

"Wait," Maya said "The nerve links are still active! If we blow the arm off now..."

"I think you heard me the first time. There. Is. No. Time. Do it now!"

Sonic grimaced... on one hand, that seemed a bit cruel and Rei would be hurt, on the other, if that arm didn't go, things could get much worse. he wasn't in charge, so it wasn't his choice...

BOOM! The special emergency explosives in Eva-00's arm socket activated, sending the limb and Bardiel's material on it flying, Rei eliciting an ear-piercing cry of pain.

__

"What?!" Bardiel hissed _"Dammit! Just another minute and I would have succeeded. Rrrgh, screw it! I don't have time for this! Hm?"_

Asuka's Eva was arriving on the scene now, Bardiel could hear its footfalls and sense the power of its idle AT Field, but she didn't seem to notice him.

"The Red Devil's here," Toji chuckled "Now you're really gonna--"

He screamed as Bardiel sent a burst of pain through his entire body.

__

"Shut up!!" the Angel bellowed, clearly in a bad mood now.

"Damn it, where's the Angel?" Asuka unintentionally said aloud "Wait, there's Rei... so where the hell is the Angel?! Shinji, where the hell are you?"

"I-i-i'm coming, Asuka," Shinji stuttered.

"Move faster... Ugh. Listen up, dummy, maybe this'll give you some incentive. I know who the Fourth Child is, and--"

Asuka didn't get the chance to say it as Bardiel suddenly leapt onto her Eva, smashing it into one of he adjacent buildings. All Asuka could do was yelp in surprise before she was quickly subdued and knocked unconscious.

__

"You were saying something, Toji?" Bardiel asked smugly _"Just one more to go, and I will have no opposition! Where is it, anyway...? Aha! I can smell it..."_

Bardiel ambled onwards, he could sense the last Eva he would have to go through just ahead.

Shinji called out to Asuka several times, but the line was dead. He had to find that Angel and defeat it. If only the new Eva was here, he thought. And the Fourth Child piloting it... Who was it? If only Asuka would answer right now!

"I don't see the Angel anywhere yet..."

"Turn around, Shinji," Gendo sated "The Angel's heading right for you..."

Shinji whirled around quickly, preparing to brandish his Eva's knife and attack.

But he didn't. He completely froze the moment he saw his enemy, its bluish-black armor glistening in the setting sun, eyes glowing as red as said object, walking towards him, slightly slouched, mouth agape, a whitish, foamy and fungus-like substance dribbling down its arms and backside. It was like a demon had appeared from the depths of hell...

But that's not why he froze.

"That's... it's... it's..."

"Yes," Gendo said "Evangelion Unit Three is the Thirteenth Angel."

"Wait, **WHAT**?!" Sonic yelled "You didn't say anything about that before!"

"It was not a primary concern, hedgehog. It is an Angel, and therefore is our enemy. Destroying it, that is the primary concern. Shinji, engage the Angel immediately."

"No," Shinji whispered.

"What?"

"No. I can't. I won't. I c-c-can't fight this thing!"

Gendo's mood turned deathly serious.

"Boy. Engage it. That's an order."

"**No. **I can't! It's the Eva they were testing today! The Fourth Child is in there! Another human being is in there, a boy like me... I can't destroy this thing! I can't kill another person! I can't, I can't, **I can't do it**..."

"It is an Angel, boy. Destroy it immediately!"

"Didn't you hear him, Captain Blackbeard?!" Sonic shouted "He can't do it! He's not that kind of person! Shinji! Retreat, kid! If you can't do it, then don't!"

"Hedgehog... You have **no** authority to be giving any sort of orders. Shinji, you will engage the Angel by your own will, or you will engage it by force. Lieutenant Ibuki. Prepare to activate the Dummy System."

"Are you crazy?!" Maya shouted "It hasn't even been tested yet! I can't activate it without Dr. Akagi's approval!"

Gendo turned to and glared at Maya.

"Are you planning on defying orders, as well? The Angel has to be stopped by any means necessary. Is that clear?"

Maya said nothing, knowing that if she refused, he would just have someone else do it for her while putting her in a jail cell.

"Dammit," Sonic said "This is beyond heartless!"

"This is war!" Gendo retorted.

This was followed by the ear-piercing scream of Shinji Ikari as Bardiel plowed into Eva-01, sending it crashing headfirst into a building.

__

"This is supposed to be your good friend, Toji?!" Bardiel asked with amusement. _"He's not even doing anything! This is almost too easy... I think I'm going to scatter this one's entrails all over this city!"_

Shinji got his Eva back up on its feet, preparing to run. He didn't care what his father or anyone else said. He was not going to fight an Eva with another pilot inside of it.

It was then that Eggman arrived back on the bridge, looking quite disheveled and bothered.

"I apologize for my lateness and inability to tell you about this Angel," he said "There was too much going on for me to be prompt! ...How is the fighting going, anyway?"

"Eggman," Sonic said "You know about the Angels, right? Then you probably know what's happening. Shinji can't fight it, but the Commander is trying to force him! he's saying something about a Dumbass System or something!"

"The Dummy System, hedgehog. It will be activated if Shinji doesn't start fighting, and he's not going to! Commander, in Ritsuko's absence, I can authorize the system's activation."

"No!" Sonic shouted, leaping off of the Magi and burst through the air, landing on the deck where Eggman was standing "I'm not going to let you do this! Even if I have to stop you guys myself."

"Make one more move, Sonic," Gendo said "And you will be terminated. Shinji, attack, or you will be made to attack!"

"Bring it on, Blackbeard."

"I'd rather die!" Shinji shouted over the communications "I am retreating, father! And if you do anything to Sonic-- Aaaargh!"

The next noises were pained, choking gasps from Shinji's channel. Bardiel had wrapped both hands around his Eva's neck, intent on popping its head off like a zit, purring in anticipation of the gruesome crunch. Shinji's own throat felt and actually looked like it was being crushed, the neural connections actually making Shinji unable to breathe.

"Shinji, I'm telling you one last time!" Gendo said "Fight back or you **will** die! And if you think I'm going to let you die now--"

Sonic blinked. Gendo was being cold and commanding, utterly serious in his words, but was that.. panic in his voice?! ...Shinji was his son. He wasn't doing this to be a bastard, he was trying to keep his son from getting himself killed like this.

"There.. there has to be another way other than this Dummy thing!"

"There isn't. Lieutenant Ibuki."

"Maybe there is," Eggman spoke up "There might be one thing that will make him fight! He probably doesn't trust me or you, Commander, but... Sonic."

"What is it, Eggman?!" Sonic shouted "We have to at least try!"

The round doctor whispered something into Sonic's ear, our blue hero's eyes flying open, and then shifting slightly, with a hint of curiosity. he turned around and shouted into the closest communications unit.

"Shinji!" he said "You have to fight that thing! Not because it's an Angel. But because of who's inside it!"

Shinji let out a questioning gag in response, his consciousness slipping.

"Your friend, Toji's in there! Toji's the Fourth Child! Don't do this for NERV, do it because he's in there! Fight back and you can save him!"

"I doubt it is going to work," Gendo said, and was about to tell Maya to activate the Dummy system.

Shinji's eyes flew wide open. Was that why Toji had been down as of late? Was that why he hadn't been in school the past two days? Memories flashed before his eyes along with the oncoming blackness. Him in the schoolyard, Kensuke watching as Toji punched him in the face for what had happened to his sister.

__

Sorry, new kid, but I'm going to have to beatcha up!

And the ironic twist a few days later on that train platform, remembering what Toji had said to get Shinji to punch him as payback.

__

Punch me, man! It's the only way I can feel better after what happened! It's a matter of honor!

And more memories.

__

Ya like Ayanami? Shinji, you stud!

Now, this is what makes breaks between classes awesome.

Geez, that Soryu chick gets on my damn nerves! She gets on yours, too, am I right?!

Dude, you're lucky to have that hot Katsuragi lady as your guardian. Just 'cos she's go ther quirks doesn't mean you ain't family!

Shinji's eyes narrowed, and he gasped and gurgled aloud, trying to form a yell.

Meanwhile, Toji couldn't believe it. Shinji wasn't fighting back. He was just going to let the Tumult destroy him. Toji's hope was shattered, Bardiel was laughing at him and mocking him now.

__

"This is it!" Bardiel chortled, his next words suddenly shattered by a roar of astonishment and agony _"Say your last goodbye-- GYARGH?!"_

There was a series of loud pops and crunches as Eva-01's hands flew up and completely crushed Bardiel's hands at the wrists, making him let go, flailing and physically roaring in pain.

__

"What in the hell?! How did he... **how**?! My hands my hands my..."

Bardiel bellowed in surprise again when Eva-01 smashed its knee into his gut, the protruding part on its knee armor skewering his armor and flesh.

Shinji let out another gag and a series of coughs before finally being able to unleash a haunting scream of fury as he pulled out his Eva's pistol and fired several rounds point-blank into Bardiel's skull, the range allowing the bullets to rip large tunnels through the right side of it.

Inside Bardiel's plug, Toji was writhing and hissing in pain, his own head feeling like it had been the one that just got blown apart. But he was also laughing and grinning as well, and spoke once more before falling unconscious.

"Game... over, bitch..."

Bardiel tried to headbutt Eva-01 off of him, but Shinji simply made it sidestep out of the way, a devilish, creepy, uncharacterisic sneer on his face as he then smashed Bardiel's head into a building, blood gushing from he bullet wounds, splashing everywhere with pieces of armor, flesh and bone as the slam compacted the entire right side of his head into a gory mess.

Still, somehow, Bardiel was still able to move, and attempted to get away, but Shinji brandished the Eva's knife from its hatch and bury the blade into the back of his neck and tear downwards, ripping open the hatch cover keeping the Entry Plug in place, also mutilating Bardiel's true body which was covering and twisting around the plug like some sort of freakish, gooey moss.

Bardiel tried to struggle some more, but the Eva was holding onto the cut in his back, tearing away the armor, flesh, and hydraulics and then yanking the plug free and set it on the ground gently.

Now that that was done, Shinji had nothing to fear or regret and slammed the knife into Bardiel's chest, and of course, the core underneath it. Bardiel attempted to retaliate, but it was too late.

__

"N-n-no... I am the one who... rrrrules over hailstorms, I am the tuh-tumult, I am the infector, I am the contruuurgh... I... am... the..."

Bardiel flailed around a bit, sparks flying from his core, trying to survive, but it was too late, his life force was fading quickly, he finally slouched onto Eva-01, dead.

"I... I did it, Toji," Shinji said hoarsely "Thank you, Sonic. I... I..."

"No problemo, kid," Sonic said a little uneasily, having heard Shinji in a state of complete and utter fury.

"We just got word from the medical team that they've reached the second base," Aoba announced "Major Katsuragi suffered some injuries, but she'll be alright, same with Dr. Akagi. But..."

"But what?" asked several of the people present.

"Dr. Hajime Suzuhara, he suffered far graver injuries. He should be dead from what happened, but he's hanging on by just a thread."

"We will have to see how this works out," Fuyutsuki said, it had seemed like he'd not spoken at all for the whole incident "Our next priority is to investigate Mr. Suzuhara's plug and get him medical attention."

"If he's still alive, you mean," Hyuga sighed.

"Hey, don't give up on the kid so soon," Sonic spoke aloud.

Nothing more was said, and they got to work.

****

To Be Continued

Author's Notes

And there you have it, the end of the _Hailstorm _arc. Only took me three days between chapters this time! As I said in the notes for last chapter, it was only intended to be two chapters, but I cut it in half, otherwise it would have been longer than I like on making chapters.

Originally, when I did the first outline a few years back, I had intended for having the Dummy Plug incident turn out as it had in the series, but with the extra characters there, I figured someone would be able to tell Shinji about Toji, which led to how it turned out here.

Anyway, the next arc will be the _RE:VENGE _arc, which will deal with many things concerning the Iruel-II System as well as the arrival of Zeruel, the 14th angel. See you next time.


	13. RE:VENGE 1

****

Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis

Chapter Twelve: RE:VENGE, Part 1 - Lockdown

Toji was, in fact, still alive. Being fine, on the other hand, was a whole different matter. His brain and nerves had been slightly damaged by the trauma sent into him via his synchronization with the Eva and the damage inflicted upon it, along with the Angel's presence within him. Even further, with Bardiel's attachment to him, one of his legs had been completely transformed into Angel tissue and had to be removed, along with other small, infected chunks from his body. Still, the boy was lucky it hadn't been worse. Then again, who knew if he'd ever recover fully.

His grandfather, on the other hand, had to be the luckiest man in the world right now, the force of the explosion and his close proximity to it, along with a flying beam should have killed him outright, but somehow he survived it. Though perhaps it would be better if he had died, considering how much organ and skeletal damage he had received. He would probably be comatose or bedridden for the rest of his life.

Misato, other than having her right arm broken and a couple of bruises, had come out of the ordeal quite nicely, while Ritsuko only had some head injuries and bruises. Both Eggman and Maya were making it their duty to perform the lady doctor's every whim, with plenty of arguing and confrontation between the two.

As for the pilots, both Asuka and Rei were fine, though they did feel the usual aches from the synchronized damage their Evas had taken, Rei especially, her arm simply dangled loosely, at least for a short time, before it had miraculously returned to functioning. This was, of course, due to a stealthily added replacement arm "donated" by one of her "sisters".

Shinji, though, hadn't gotten out of his Eva. In fact, he was refusing to come out. The situation wasn't as bad as it could have been if he hadn't been told about Toji and watched helplessly as Eva-01, controlled by the Dummy Plug, tore Bardiel apart and crushed Toji's plug in the process. But Eggman's machinations had inadvertently changed that course of events.

"How much longer are you going to mope in there anyway, Third?" Asuka hissed through the comm line "You saved your friend's ass and beat the Angel, right?!"

Shinji didn't answer. She was right, of course, but that hadn't changed the fact his father was ready and willing to force him to fight by any means necessary, or that he really had reservations about attacking an Eva with a human being inside. Sure it had been Toji, but he hadn't known that until the last minute. He just wanted some time alone, to think. he could exit the plug and leave to do that, but he was too stuck in his self-pity.

"I don't think he's going to come out for a while," Sonic said "The kid still had to go through all that crap to succeed. His dad was about to pull something really terrible to make that mech fight without Shinji's control. Whatever this Dummy Plug thing is, I don't like it."

"I don't, either!" Asuka said in agreement "Really, from how it sounds, they wouldn't need pilots anymore. And I'm not about to get thrown away like old garbage for some... some... whatever the hell it is."

"That's not what I meant, but, whatever. Shinji's not coming out for a while, so..."

"Go home now?! It'll be kind of lonely and totally boring with it being just us and the penguin."

"Forgetting someone, Asuka?" a familar voice asked, Asuka turning on her heel to look.

"Tch... Misato!" Asuka said.

"I didn't think she was dead yet," Sonic said.

"Damn right," the Major retorted "So, Shinji's not coming out of the plug? He better soon, because if he doesn't, he'll probably be dragged out. The Commander wants to see him."

"Guy doesn't know when to quit, does he."

"Hm. Well, at any rate, I suppose all we can do is go home."

And then, there was the sound of an entry plug's hatch opening, Shinji coming out silently.

"Never mind," Misato said "Shinji, your father..."

Shinji didn't answer, he just solemnly walked past, into the changing room, then back out, in his regular clothes.

"Hey, kid," Sonic said "You okay now?"

"I'm going to my father," the boy simply answered before walking off.

"Guess he overheard us," Asuka said "Well, at least it got the idiot motivated."

"Shut up, Asuka," Misato said, following Shinji.

"Tch! So, anyway, they're no help, guess we'll go back to the..."

"Sorry, Asuka," Sonic interrupted "Can't you cut the kid a break for once?"

Asuka was left speechless as the blue one also exited the area, before wandering off by herself.

Gendo and Fuyutsuki waited in silence for Shinji to show up. If he didn't arrive by the hour, they would get security personnel and possibly some of the Collaboration drones to retrieve him. Of course, there had been no need, as Shinji entered the room, Misato and Sonic not far behind.

"Shinji, Major, hedgehog," Gendo said, staring at them over his folded hands "You have come. I, however, only wish to speak to Shinji. So."

"Whatever you want to say to Shinji, I wish to hear, as well," Misato said.

"Then you may stay. You, however, Sonic, this is none of your concern. Leave."

"Forget it, Captain Blackbeard!" Sonic responded "After what happened a few hours ago--"

"Sonic," Misato snapped "Leave. You don't have the choice of staying."

Sonic would have refused Gendo anytime, but Misato, on the other hand... Guess he was outnumbered.

"Alright."

Once he was out the door, Gendo cleared his throat.

"Boy, do you know why you're here?"

Shinji said nothing, so Gendo continued.

"Very well, then. Despite your defeat of the 13th Angel, you still refused to engage it when you were asked, then told to. That, boy, was a grave mistake. You are expected to fight and defeat the Angels as promptly as possible, barring being disabled in combat. You do know what would have happened if you had refused further than you did, correct?"

"I wouldn't have been killed, father," Shinji spoke abruptly "Y-y-you were going to do something to my Eva to make it kill the Angel. Before Sonic said Toji was in there, I would have let myself get killed, but you wouldn't let that happen. For what you were gonna do, I. Hate. You."

"For making you do what is necessary, Shinji? For preparing to save your life when you were just going to throw it away? For that, you hate me? Hm. If that is what you wish. But it didn't come to all that, now did it? There was no need to use the Dummy Plug this time around."

"Do we really need it in the first place, Commander?" Misato asked.

"Yes, we do, Major. It was made just in case this very thing were to occur. And it did, or at least it was going to, at any rate. When a pilot outlives their use, the Dummy Plug will make sure things will get done without them. The boy is still useable, is he not?"

"He's right there, Commander! How do you think it makes him feel to hear you talk about him like he's some disposable teen puppet?!"

"He knows his place. Do you know it? Or your own, for that matter?"

"Commander, you son of a...!"

"Misato, Father, enough," Shinji said, trembling slightly. "Just, stop. I know my place now. It's n-n-not here. I am so sick and tired of this, this being pushed and pulled around."

"Shinji," Gendo said "You are an Evangelion pilot. You are part of a war with something that wants to destroy us. If you cannot take all of the trials of this, then you are not fit for the job. Sacrifices have to be made. I was hoping you understood that. You can either pilot, or you can leave."

"Commander, you can't mean that!" Misato cried "We need Shinji! He's an important part of--"

"'Need' me?" Shinji said, lowering his head, his voice breaking as he continued to speak "You're no better than my father! You say you don't want me to be a puppet, but you... I...I can't take this anymore! I can't be an Eva pilot anymore! I don't want to be one anymore!!"

Misato was feeling deja vu now. Shinji had done this before, back when he was first starting out, before the incident that made him friends with Toji. History was repeating itself. Only now, Shinji had more experience, more knowledge, and more people in his life then back then.

"Shinji..."

"No! Stop it... I can't do this. I just can't do it anymore."

"Then, leave!" Gendo snapped.

There were no more words, no more hesitation. Shinji was gone from the room at such a speed that Sonic was surprised when he ran past the hedgehog.

"Hey, kid, where are you goin'?! Shinji!"

But Shinji just wanted to get away, so he didn't respond. He just went onwards.

"**Damn it, Commander!!**" Misato shouted "This is... this... You son of a BITCH!"

"Careful, Major," Gendo warned "You can be replaced just as easily. You know this. As for Shinji, he made his decision by his own will. He could easily have done the opposite, but he chose to quit. If he changes his mind, it will happen. If he does not, then he will not be returning to NERV again. This is an unfortunate development, but we will have to make do."

Misato seethed and grumbled a few choice words under her breath. Gendo was right. If Shinji had wanted to stay, he would have stayed. But this didn't make her feel any less angry or helpless.

"Fine. So, what happens now? We get the next Child's identity from the Marduk Institute just in case we do have to fill Shinji's place on the roster permanently?"

Misato knew that question was as bogus as the Marduk Institute, but she had to keep up appearances. After all, with he Commander's reaction to her outburst, who knew the consequences of him finding out?

"No," Gendo said "We will wait and see what happens before we do that. If that is all, Major..."

Misato sighed and bowed, before ducking out of the office, to be greeted by Sonic.

"Pardon my language, Misato, but, what the **hell** just happened?! Shinji just ran out of here like a bat out of, well, you know."

"Shinji... he quit. There were some things said in that office, and he decided to quit."

"What?! Just like that?!"

"You know what happened, Sonic. Shinji felt he had to do it. I know it sounds like he's running away, and, well, he is, but considering the situation... Still, Shinji could wind up changing his mind."

"I should go find him, but, you, you're right. If he wants to come back, he will. Here's to hoping he doesn't get into any trouble."

"Yes," Misato sighed "Guess all we can do now is find Asuka and get back the apartment."

Sonic nodded, and they walked off.

Meanwhile, back in the office, Gendo and Fuyutsuki had not broken the silence that had returned after Misato had left the room, but that didn't last long.

"So, your son just left again," Kozo said with a sigh "Are you sure we shouldn't act?"

"You heard what was said," Gendo replied "If he hadn't quit, he would have been dismissed anyway. It was unfortunate, but unavoidable. At least..."

"At least since he quit, he can return on his own?"

"Hm. That, and a least he's still alive. Yui would have been happy about that."

Fuyutsuki chuckled softly at the "would have" and its irony.

"So, Ikari. The time draws closer to the complete deviation from the scenario of the Old Men... Do you think everything will go as smoothly as you think? Especially with the rotten egg and his actions?"

"Dr. Ivo Eggman. Mr. Ivo Robotnik. Prof. Edgar Schell. Three men. One is an employee of NERV in our science department, given a permanent position by SEELE. One supposedly runs an aircraft and aircraft weaponry manufacturing company in Russia, dealing in developing large-scale things of that nature. And, one supposedly owns a technology firm in the United States that mainly deals in cybernetics R&D. The last two are like the Marduk Institute's benefactors, dummy corporations run by the same person or group. Care to guess who?"

"The first man, Ikari. The Old Men have allowed him to spread out, to do, what is supposedly their will."

"Just as they believe NERV to be doing. But of course, we know that is not the case. Outward appearances can be deceiving, as does mankind as a whole."

Gendo sipped some coffee before replying.

"Yes. Dr. Eggman is no doubt also planning to do to SEELE what we are doing. And he is of course, using NERV, as well. He has tried to corrupt Dr. Akagi to his will several times, but she has resisted it all. Her loyalty to our cause is assured, even that fat idiot can't change it. But he has managed to use her to his advantage in one form..."

"The Iruel-II System, I'm guessing, Ikari, as that's all I can think of."

"Correct. Using his knowledge, he and Ritsuko, with the help of Lieutenant Ibuki, captured he Angel that was going to infect the Magi, by getting it to infect a containment conduit instead. Then, overwriting and taking control of the Angel and its abilities with a counter-program, developed the system and had it put into an unused, high-security section of the base."

"With which began the construction of the Collaboration Units. Another one of the things that connects him to Dr. Akagi."

"Then Sonic comes and knocks things around, but sadly, not over completely, for our problem. He worms his way into getting immunity and we are forced to keep him until he quits by his own will. But, back to the matter at hand: the Iruel-II system. Then, we have Lieutenant Ibuki, who is quite distrustful of and despises Eggman."

"And what is her role in this?" Fuyu asked with a raised eyebrow.

"What lengths would one go to help their superior?" Gendo responded "What will one do to make sure their problems go away? She decided to take those great lengths. One of my private associates knew some people that were into computer programs. Specifically, viruses."

"So... you got this private associate's associates to make a virus for the Iruel-II system, and...?"

"Then, from what, the Lieutenant thought was by pure chance, she found someone who could take care of her problem. I don't need to explain further, do I?"

"You seem to think of everything, Ikari. Where is the virus now?"

"Dormant in its target, of course," Gendo said, flashing that glasscutter's grin.

"Dormant?" Fuyutsuki asked, curious "Until when?"

"Until **now**."

Elsewhere in the facility, Asuka Langley Soryu was ceasing seething over what had happened earlier. Maybe she had been a little out of line, but, really, she always called Shinji stuff. Why get pissed off at her now? Not that it really mattered, she was calm now, as she looked over a balcony that looked over dormant Collaboration Units. To think, Sonic's archnemesis and that bleach blonde created these things. They were supposed to be used to distract Angels, but she wondered if they had been created for something more sinister. Those things seemed to be built to go after things like Sonic.

Her thoughts were broken when the sounds of clicking and creaking metal, followed by sounds of machinery starting up came. She looked around, wondering where it was coming from... And that's when she heard the sound of a cocking gun...

Many, many times, as every Collaboration Unit had suddenly woken up. And they were aiming their guns at her.

__

"Ahh, schiessen."

And just a few halls away, Misato and Sonic were looking for her.

"Dammit, where did that girl run off to?" the Major asked "We can't leave her here. Maybe some food will cheer her up."

"I dunno, when she finds out about Shinji quitting, no amount of food's going to get her out of a bad mood," Sonic said.

"Hmm, you're right. With Shinji back there, she was rather rude."

"Yikes, we're talking in rhymes, dude!" both of them said then, laughing heartily, but their laughter was interrupted as a security wall, marked with "lockdown" in big letters, slammed in front of them just inches away, both with eyes wide in surprise.

Maya read a magazine while Eggman and Ritsuko talked about their collaborations and possible security checks and upgrades. Her sempai, despite having a bandage around her head and some noticeable bruises, was pretty cheerful and talkative.

But, why did it have to be with Eggman? But, thinking about it, her problem with him would be over soon. That virus would activate, and kill that damned abomination. She knew Ritsuko had helped build the system, hell, she had helped as well. But she knew Eggman was planning to use it for something other than NERV's security.

Any time now, she thought. And then, in a flash, it happened. And, unfortunately, not how Maya was expecting, as warning sirens and the sounds of slamming security doors filled the base. She thought the virus would destroy the operating system and make it irreparable.

"Wh-what's going on?!" she said aloud.

"I don't know, Maya," Ritsuko said "But it's bad. This isn't the Angel attack security measures, it's the military invasion ones!"

"We need to get to the Magi, then, right, sempai?"

"No, Maya, the Magi don't run it..."

"Iruel-II does," Eggman said, finishing for her "The security lock on the Angel's been compromised."

"Wait, what?" Maya said, getting pale.

"It keeps the Angel in check, if it's broken, the Angel's free will is no longer suppressed, and anything that the system controls..."

"Security measures, machinery, the Collaboration Units," Ritsuko continued "They'd all be at its command, and no one would be safe."

__

"What have I done?!" Maya screamed in her mind.

And in the depths, where the mainframe of the Iruel-II system existed, one word repeatedly flashed and/or scrolled across all of the computer monitors and other display objects, in large, red letters:

"FREEDOM"

****

To Be Continued

Author's Notes

And there you have it, the _RE:VENGE _arc kicks off with Shinji's second departure, the Iruel-II system and everything it commands going haywire, Gendo showing he hasn't lost his touch with his scheming (yup, he orchestrated Maya getting the virus, folks), and , uh... an OC's use to the plotline finished? Yeah, that sounds about right!

Looks like I've managed three updates in just about the same number of weeks! Will this continue? Doubtful, but you never know! Inspiration's a funny thing.


	14. RE:VENGE 2

**Sonic the Hedgehog: Genesis**

**Chapter Thirteen: RE:VENGE, Part 2 - Maze of Love**

Asuka's mind raced as she tried to figure out what to do about the large group of humanoid machines pointing the guns at her person.

"Uh, uhm, watch where you're pointing those things, you tin cans! Somebody could get hurt."

The Collaboration Units did not change their position, several now pointing their guns at her face.

"No sense of humor," she sighed, closing her eyes. If they were going to off her, they might as well do it now, while she had some pride left. Instead, she got a prod in the chest, the robots pointing forward down the hall.

"If you weren't just machines, I'd slap you for touching me there... _Then again, they would probably blow me away and move on."_

More pointing was the response. Asuka decided it would be best for her to do what she was told, for the time being, at least.

-

Shinji couldn't believe what had happened. Not only had he saved one of his best friends from something far worse than tragic, he had also stood up to his father, which had wound up freeing him from two of his biggest burdens.

So, why didn't he feel free? He didn't feel like he was running away again, guilt was the farthest thought in his mind. He should feel something, good or bad, but all he felt was emptiness.

He looked back at the gates, maybe he should head back. But, he had no more purpose there now, right? Was that why he felt empty, because he had no greater purpose?

It didn't matter anyway, right? He had his freedom. Besides, the way back in had suddenly been closed off, so he sighed and went on his way, blissfully unaware of what was happening inside NERV at that very moment.

-

"Well, it looks like the base just went into full lockdown mode," Misato grumbled as she kicked the giant security door, but to no avail.

"Probably won't get out that way, Sonic replied "Let's go down the hallway and check another spot."

"Only thing we can do, I guess. Maybe we can get to a door with a card reader and use it to stop whatever this is. If it were an Angel, I would have gotten called and brief-- Duh! I'll try calling somebody from outside the base, maybe that'll work."

She grabbed her cell and chose the first speed dial number on it. The signal was completely dead and blocked, it seemed.

"Damn it! Something's jamming the signal. Just what in the hell is going on here?!"

"Something's up, and I have a really bad feeling about it, Misato," the hedgehog replied, a visible frown on his usually smiling or grinning face "Let's try and find a door with a card reader and see if we can't get out that way."

"Guess we have no choice."

On they went, checking several halls and intersections, everything was blocked off! And no card readers in sight, either. But that finally changed as one was found, Misato running her ID through the card reader and punched in her code, only to get a big, fat "ERROR".

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me!" she cried, trying a few more times, with the same result, she then punched the reader in frustration, cursing from the pain of doing such to a solid object. "Damn it, damn it, **damn it!**"

"Yep, definitely something spooky goin' down around here," Sonic replied... and then, silence, except for Misatio's phone giving off a text recieved beep.

"Finally, some luck!" she said with a grin, checking the message.

"What does it say?"

Misato blanched, her skin now even paler than Rei's, also looking like she ahd turned to stone.

"What's it say, Misato?!"

She responded by simply showing Sonic the phone and the message on it.

"NO ESCAPE. WE ARE IRUEL. THIS BASE BELONGS TO US NOW, AS DO YOUR LIVES. THE END OF THE LILIM IS NIGH. NO ESCAPE."

"Isn't that the system you said Eggman made with Dr. Akagi?!" Sonic shouted, Misato doing nothing but nod shakily in confirmation.

-

Those very two people, along with Maya were wandering through the base as well, having slightly better luck due to having override codes. But, some of the areas, especially the very important ones, seemed to have been reinforced with the Angel-computer's commands, and therefore inaccessable.

"I still don't know how the hell this could have ha-a-atchoo!" Ritsuko lamented "Happened. The control program was stupidly powerful."

"The only way I can think up, Ritsuko, is not a pleasant theory," Eggman replied, also sneezing.

"Sabotage?"

"Yes. Unpleasant, but the most likely way this happened is if someone sabotaged the control program or the entire system."

Maya remained silent at this. This was her fault it had happened, after all. The virus was supposed to kill the whole system, not make it do this! That brat she had bought it from had lied about its effects. Either that, or there had been a flaw that had caused this situation. Or... This could have been intentional, someone **wanted** this to happen! She suspected Eggman, but somehow, she had a feeling of doubt about that. Why would he do it to something he had great pride in making? Then again, this was a mad scientist here, he could have easily done this to prove a point.

"No accusations today, Lieutenant?" Eggman asked, breaking Maya's thought process.

"I don't think you would do this to something you put so much effort into, is all," she replied.

"Yes," Ritsuko answered "I know how important making the system was, for the both of us."

"Hm," Eggman began his response "This is quite the conundrum. I didn't do this, and I don't think you would do this either, so..."

Maya completely froze. He suspected her! Her career, her personal relationships, her life, they would all be over if he suspected this. Surely he wanted her...

"Ikari!" Eggman stated "He was never fond of this project, nor of me. And he's certainly the type to pull this."

And, Maya realized it was entirely possible this **was** the Commander's doing Only, it was that he had duped her, not that he was the sabateur. Still...

"I hate to admit it, Sempai, but I agree. I actually agree. With. Him."

"Gendo?" Ritsuko balked "While he's... a wily man I doubt he'd do something of such a scale, especially to the base that he runs. There has to be another explanation."

"That doesn't matter right now, anyway," Eggman replied "We need to get out of this first, before we start pointing fingers. Agreed?"

"Agreed," the women responded.

"If we can meet up with some of the others, we could work together with the additional manpower and stop this before it puts us in an early grave."

-

"So, we're basically trapped in the base under the whim of a sentient supercomputer that used to be an Angel," Misato griped "Just freaking wonderful!"

"So, what do we do about it?" Sonic replied.

"I don't know yet! Let me think, would you, spiky?"

Sonic tapped his foot in response. Was there really time to be thinking about how to act, rather than just acting? In his world, he knew what he would do - find out how to access the... core of the problem, so to speak, and smash it. But, maybe here, it wasn't so simple. But, still...

"Hey, Misato, quick question."

"What?! I'm still thinking!"

"There any vents or ducts nearby?"

Misato blinked, before responding.

I'd like to think so, yes. In fact, if we are where I think we are, there **should** be an access point that we can... Wait! Yes! If we can use the vents, we could access other parts of the base."

"My thoughts exactly," Sonic said with a grin.

"Ah, dammit, I'm probably too big to fit in the shafts. Which would mean you would to go by yourself. And I wouldn't know where to go without a map of the ventilation system."

"No problem!"

"You sure are overconfident, but we have no other choice at this point," she chuckled "Let's get moving!"

-

Shinji had forgotten how long he had been wandering around Tokyo-3 now, his track of time had vanished on him when he had left those gates. He was just an ordinary person now, he needn't keep track... right?

All he knew right now was that he was walking along a grassy area, looking downwards at the ground. Then, the faint sound of someone whistling a tune.

Curious, he wandered towards the source, finding something unexpected... young watermelons, and the whistler, who was watering those watermelons, he knew the person.

"Kaji?"

"Well, hello, Shinji," the scruffy man answered, stopping his current task "Never expected you to show up here, of all places."

"S-sorry, to intrude, I was just walking around and heard you whistling. I'll go now."

"No need, kiddo. Actually been wondering what you've been up to since last time. Saw the action earlier, pretty interesting you did there, ripping the entry plug out of that rogue Eva. I bet you got quite the praise for that."

"I got, uhm... I'm no longer an Eva pilot. It's... it's all done with, Kaji. I guess I'm free now, but..."

"But?" Kaji was curious.

"I don't feel free, I don't feel sad, in fact, I don't feel anything about it right now. And it's confusing."

Kaji's eybrow had been raising in incriments with each sentence Shinji spoke. But he simply listened and pondered without a word.

"Kaji?"

"Oh, sorry. That's pretty disconcerting, kiddo. But, I do think you feel something, in fact, you just stated it. You're just confused. You don't know how to feel yet. It should come in time. I'd ask you waht you plan to do now, but if you're feeling as you are..."

"G-guess I'll finish school and go to college after that and see what goes on, well, if the world is still around."

"I see," Kaji replied "Well, good luck to you. You going to stay here in Tokyo-3, or...?"

"Misato will probably tell me about that."

"Oh, of course. Oh, speaking of her, when you see her next time, tell her I've been looking for her. Been trying to call her, but everything's been going to voicemail since I started trying about a half an hour or so back... I've got some info she'd really like to know."

Shinji simply nodded and headed on his way, not knowing just **why **Kaji's calls weren't being answered.

-

The robots moved through the base with ease, each one an extension of the main system, giving them complete and utter access. Easily, they could overtake the whole base and its residents, but that seemed to be the furthest so-called "thought". No, they simply stood guard, only to attack if approached directly firsthand. For the time being, transporting Asuka Langley Soryu seemed to be the top priority, and the redheaded pilot could swear they were headed for the Eva cages. Asking them anything was obviously useless, so all she could do was ponder. If that's where they were going... waht did the hordes want with her Eva?

-

Gendo and Fuyutsuki continued to sit in the dark, just as trapped in Iruel's web as everyone else. Obviously, Gendo thought all of this was worth the trouble, but his compatriot wasn't as sure. They could easily die here, their legacy snuffed out in an instant, on a gamble. And the whole world would go down the proverbial toilet, along with everything else.

Fuyutsuki highly doubted Yui would appove of this madness.

-

Surely enough, and thankfully, a ventilation duct was in close proximity of where Misato and Sonic were trapped, and as very good luck would have it, there was nothing to block their access of it, except for the grate, which was easily removed.

"Alright, I hope this works, Sonic," Misato instructed The main system should be a few levels down from here, but try to find some of the others first. They might know more, or alternative strategies to this. Which might mean..."

"Asking Eggman? He knows as I do that this isn't the time for any of us to argue, and..."

"And?"

"I've had to bail him out of this sort of thing before," Sonic replied dryly, before rushing into the ventillation system.

"Good luck, Sonic, Misato said with a sigh, slowly sliding to the floor. They were going to need it, she was sure of that.

-

"Damn it," Ritsuko sighed "We can't go any further, the AI has wised up to what we were doing."

"Sempai, are you saying we're going to be stuck here until we die of starvation?!" Maya squeaked, and in her panic, almost blurted out her being at fault, but was interrupted by an answer.

"We'd die of thirst first, Lieutenant," came from Eggman "Or have you forgotten basic living functions already?"

"Shut up, I'm nervous, okay?! And both of us are wrong. or have **you** forgotten **your thing** has all of those robot soldiers... They might get the pleasure of killing us first."

"Guess it's better than dying the other way," Ritsuko chuckled, rather amused by the sudden reminder of mortality.

"T-this isn't funny, sempai!!!"

"I sadly agree with Ritsuko, though I'm not amused by the situation," Eggman interjected "Only way out now is to get to the control room and shut the system down manually, but..."

"We just can't get to it because we're too big to reach it by the ventilation system," Ritsuko sighed "Even with a map. Which we don't have."

"So... all we would need is someone small enough to get it!" Maya exclaimed.

"You aren't suggesting--" Eggman was about to protest, his words cut off by a vent grate being smashed off its spot, a streak of blue flying from the opening and skidding to a halt.

"Surprised to see me, Egghead?!" Sonic laughed "Oh, hey, Maya, Dr. A!"

"Sonic," Ritsuko said nonchalantly, whilst Maya exclaimed the same with glee.

"Ugh, hello, hedgehog," Eggman scoffed "You are the last thing I wanted to see. Sadly..."

"He's our only hope, Ivo?" Ritsuko said with a sheepish smile.

"He's our only hope in making it out alive, yes."

-

Asuka looked up at the face of her Eva, her captors' numbers now cut in half, the rest having gone to attend to other business, none probably good. But, now she knew what they wanted - they needed her to pilot it, to an end she couldn't fathom.

But, the robots and their control system, they knew that end.

This was a suicide mission. The pilot was going to die, as Zeruel was going to arrive very soon... and he was going to tear the Eva nad the entire base apart.

**To be Continued**

**Authornotes:**

Hey, readers, it's been another couple of months since the last chapter, but I've had a really good reason! My computer at home finally kicked the bucket a couple months ago, and I can't afford to buy a new one, so I've had to resort to writing new chapters in a notebook, coming to the library, and typing them out. There should be another chapter within the next few days, I finished it and just need to transfer the mediums.


End file.
